Becoming the Zodiac
by Hoehomi-Chan
Summary: Tohru leaves the safety of the house to go out for the day with Uo and Hana. However; she is attacked in a cafe, and wakes up to find herself in the form of a raccoon! What connection does this have to the zodiac curse? Has Tohru become one of the zodiac?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

After rubbing the umpteenth plate dry, Tohru looked up from the sink and out of the window. She smiled, watching Yuki tenderly tidy up his garden. The previous day's typhoon had left the area in a terrible state, and Yuki had spent well over two hours tending to it.

"What the heck is so special about a dumb load of plants?" Kyo said, joining Tohru at the sink. "That damn rat has something wrong with him,"

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru exclaimed, surprised. Often after rain Kyo was sleepy; as he had been asleep the entire morning. Even now he was dressed in faded blue tracksuit bottoms, a loose black sleeveless top and his black and white bracelet, obviously very relaxed. His bright hair was tousled, and now he tried to smooth it out.

"Damn..." He said, giving up and scratching it back in to tufts. "Why does it supposed to be so darn hot after a typhoon?"

"It's wonderful outside at the moment!" Tohru said, in that overly hyper way of hers. "I've got all of the washing outside-" There were sheets and clothes flapping everywhere in the garden- "-And I'm planning to go meet Uo-chan and Hana-chan in town today,"

"Whatever," Kyo said, opening the fridge to look for something to eat. "Is lunch done yet? I'm starved,"

"Ummm..." Tohru began, sweatdropping. "We ate about... two hours ago?"

"You mean you think it's lunchtime?" Yuki said, walking in through the door. Soil decorated his jeans up and down his legs, and his clean white shirt was covered in dirt. Mud covered his hands and stuck stubbornly underneath his nails. "You stupid cat,"

"QUIT CALLIN' ME STUPID, DAMN RAT!" Kyo yelled, his head appearing from behind the fridge door.

"Oh... You're finished, Yuki-kun?" Tohru asked, so as to stop the arguing.

"Hm? Yeah, I've done what I can for now," Yuki replied, smiling warmly at Tohru. "The strawberries were almost ready to pick, but they've been delayed from the typhoon,"

"What a shame," Tohru said, returning the smile.

"Whatever, it's not like anything ever grows there, all you've ever harvested is damn leeks and you've had this garden for like two years," Kyo said, closing the fridge, clutching an apple. "What an idi-" Not just the apple went flying after Yuki's foot made contact with Kyo. Dirt rained down from him.

Tohru hurriedly opened a nearby cupboard and got the dustpan and brush.

"Here, Honda-san, I'll do it," Yuki said, taking the items gently. "By the way, was I correct in hearing that you would be meeting Uotani-san and Hanajima-san later?"

"Huh? Oh yes... Why?" Tohru replied, putting the tea towel away.

"I was just wondering," Yuki said, emptying the dust pan into the bin. There was a pause. "Would you like me to come with you?" Yuki asked.

"Oh, no, I don't want to cause trouble..." Tohru began. "Please, go have a bath, and don't worry about me,"

"Yuki was quiet for a moment, not sure whether to argue or just leave the matter.

"...Ok, Honda-san, I was just wondering," He said, smiling wryly.

"That's ok, Yuki-kun." Tohru said, turning away into the hall. "I'm just happy... that you were thinking about me,"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Tohru-kun, have a nice time," Shigure said, sliding open the front door. "And don't go off with any strange men, ok?"

"Strange men as in perverts like YOU?" Kyo asked, lurking behind the doorway. "Geez, don't warn her about them when she lives under the same roof as one,"

"Now now, Kyo-kun," Shigure said, waving his finger in the air. "Tohru-kun knows that I am a gentleman, and that I would not lay a finger on her for such purposes,"

"Shut up," Yuki said, fighting his way past Shigure and Kyo. "Honda-san, are you sure about going alone?" He was still dirt covered.

"I'm fine, Yuki-kun. Besides, you need a bath," Tohru said, smiling and silently refusing his offer. She was dressed in a lightweight dark blue shirt and white three-quarters. She had her small rose coloured purse-bag slung across her body.

"Well then, I'll be off!" Tohru smiled and gave a tiny wave. The threesome at the door watched as Tohru disappeared into the distance.

"Will she really be OK?" Yuki asked, more to himself than Shigure or Kyo.

"You worry to much," Kyo said, starting to climb the stairs. "You keep fussing over her, _Oh Honda-san, Honda-san,Hon-_

That particular conversation ended with Kyo on the floor and Yuki with slightly grazed knuckles.

"Uo-chan! Hana-chan!" Tohru called, immediatly spotting Hanajima's gothic tresses. Uo, who was next to Hana, paused at Tohru's cry, then saw her friend waving. Tohru hurried over to them, out of breath.

"Hey, Tohru-kun," Uo said, putting an arm around her friend and giving her a squeeze.

"Hello," Hana added, also patting Tohru on the shoulder.

"It's great to see you both!" Tohru said, even though she had seem them the orevious day at school.. Uo grinned a little, and brought a soda up to her lips.

"It sure is hot," She commented, slurping loudly.

"Tohru-kun, would you like something to eat?" Hanajima asked, squeezing her friend's hand. "How about a parfait? I know a nice cafe nearby,"

"'K the, let's go!" Uo said, tossing the empty card cup over her shoulder. The three friends walked off to the cafe, arm in arm, totally unaware of the chaotic hour.

"Mmmm, that was good!" Tohru said, sitting back blissfully. Her parfait glass stood empty, swirls of strawberry ice cream decorating the sides.

"Gee, Tohru, you have some on your face," Uo commented, her own ice cream devoured.

"I do?" Tohru cried, searching her face with her fingers, distorting her features so the girls laughed. "I better go to ladies to clean up..."

"Yes, do so," Hanajima said, eating her ice cream slowly, pacedly.

Tohru stood up and edged out of the booth in which she was sat next to Uo on. After entering the ladies', she stared at her reflection and snorted; she looked so funny. There were flecks on her chin, a little blob on her nose, and a lot smack dab in the middle of her forehead.

"How did I get it up there?" Tohru giggled to herself, starting to clean it off her face. After drying herself with a paper towel, she muttered "That's better,"

"Indeed," Said an icy, distorted voice from behind her. She jolted, shocked.

"Such a pretty girl," The voice said. Tohru was looking in the mirror but no one was to be seen.

"Such pretty, clear skin... Let's change that, shall we? How do you like fur..." The voice sneered. An icy chill ran down Tohru's spine, and all went black. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

All that Tohru heard for several moments was a whirring vibrating in her ears. She felt only the hard floor of the ladies'. So weak... she was so weak... weak enough to not open her eyes.

"Now there's an improvment," The voice said, chuckling gleefully. "Oh, you look so much better!"

"Wha..." Tohru muttered, her throat sticking together. She summoned up her strength and eased her eyes opened. Everything was blurry for a moment, before adjusting a little. She was staring at an image of herself! She squeaked in terror as the person in her body grinned evily.

"Now I look better," The Tohru-but-not-Tohru growled happily. "But, we can't have your friends thinking I'm you, can we? I don't want your life, I want a body," He or she threw Tohru's head back and laughed. "Bye bye!" With that cackle they disappeared with a bang of purple pink smoke.

Tohru-the real Tohru- sat up a little, wondering what on earth had happened. She still felt dizzy- and she must've been away from Uo and Hana for quite some time. Weirdly, everything seemed bigger. The door seemed to tower metres and metres above her, but mind you, she wasn't exactly healthy at that present time. Luckily, the door was open, and Tohru didn't feel like reaching up to pull it open. She pushed it open; strange, she thought, it was really really heavy, and she didn't like it's boulder-like weight. But she had to, she had to push it open...

Eventually, it swung open after labourous efforts. Tohru staggered out, dazed. Why was evrything so big? And why couldn't she feel her body dragging along the floor. She collapsed onto the floor, too exhausted to go any further. She hoped someone would spot her there, lying in distress... Help... Help...

"_Ariaguma _**(1)**_!" _Someone shrieked. Tohru's eyes snapped open. A Raccoon...? Where? She sat up and looked around. Huh? Everyone was staring at her... She looked up and said,

"I'm allright..." Even though she wasn't. She tried to stand up, but couldn't stay on her feet for more than two seconds. It was... strange...

"EEEEEKKK!" Someone cried, pointing accusingly at Tohru. "It looks dangerous! Rabid! Someone get rid of it!"

"But I'm a..." Tohru began, edging closer to the crowd. She saw Uo and Hana staring at her, looking surprised (Well, Uo looked surprised, but Hanajima looked mildly interested).

"Uo-Chan! Hana-Chan!" She cried, trying to get closer to them. She smiled widely.

"It's gonna attack! Look at those fangs!" Someone yelled, and everyone started to stampede for the doorway. Soon there was no-one left in the cafe, aside from Tohru and melting ice cream.

Well, that was strange, she thought, scratching the back of her head. She froze. She didn't feel soft strands... she felt... coarse... fur...

She looked down at her hands and saw in shock that they were paws! Tohru glanced around wildly untill she saw a low, full length mirror. She scampered over to it, four paws going click click click, as claws pattered on the floor.

Tohru reached the mirror- breathless- and stared. And stared. What stared back at her...

**...WAS A RACCOON.**

**1) Ariaguma means raccoon. I love raccoons... they're all... anime...ish... [Sweat drop-sweat drop- sweat drop-sweat drop...]**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter contains a couple of swears. Please, if you are a little tender on that subject, just note it, ok? To be honest, I think they are tame swears. I'm sorry if it upsets anyone. I'm changing the rating to a T. **

**Sorry for the owner of the cafe's mannerism. I don't think Japanese people would talk like that... I'm so sorry, it's kinda lame, but I wanted to convey his personality.**

**Chapter 4**

All Tohru could do was stare at her fluffy, masked face. Her beady eyes looked disbeliving, her rich brown coloured fur stuck up in tufts. She looked down at her paws again. She was a raccoon... A raccoon for Kami's **[God's] **sake...

"What should I do?" Tohru wailed out loud. Should she find Uo and Hana? But they ran away...

"Oi!" Tohru jumped at the sudden yell, her fur bristling in surprise.

"Geddout, or I'll make yer geddout!" The obese owner of the cafe came charging out of the serving booth, his great stomach swelling over the waist band of his greasy apron.

"Geddout yer dirty beast, or I'll...Oh," He said suddenly, crouching down to inspect Tohru. Tohru suddenly had a good idea. If she acted all cutesy, she might be taken outside. Doors were a challenge for her raccoon form, and she didn't feel like trying another one. She wandered in a circle a little, trying her hardest to look winsome. "Yer a baby, eh?" The owner was saying. "Wandered away from the nest or whatever? Yeah?" He reached out cautiously to touch Tohru; wary. As his finger brushed her side, Tohru felt the sudden urge to bite. Why did she want to bite? Oh. She knew why. Raccoons were an irratable and distcintly unfriendly species. She clenched her jaw, resisting the pull to chomp onto his finger.

"Well, yer seem quite tame. Yer a little rokudenashi **(1)**, yer know that?" Tohru growled at the insult. A rokudenashi? That idiot!

"Yer scared all my customers away, bitch." He said, laughing at his own tame swear. "Well, can't 'ave yer 'angin round 'ere all the time. Scare away e'vryone, wouldn't cha?" The owner gripped Tohru round both of her sides and lifted her into the air. She was held at arm's length, dangling uncomfartably above the floor.

"Right, where to put 'cha... Out back? Nah, I'll just putcher on the streets, 'k?" He said, speaking directly to Tohru. Tohru bobbed her head up and down at him fiercly. Yes! She knew her way back from the street. 'Out back', as he called it, would have a wall or fence; and Tohru's tiny form wasn't ready for misadventures such as scaling a wall.

"Didja just nod at me?" The cafe owner asked, peering round to look at Tohru's face. "Yer a weird lil' fing, ain't cha?"

"Awight, then, look after yerself," He said, opening the heavy cafe door with his back and placed Tohru on the pavement just outside. Tohru turned to thank the man but he was gone.

Oh well, She thought. She swallowed and peered at her reflection in the shop windows. Still a raccoon. Indeed though, she was fluffier and more wide eyed than an average raccoon, she must be a cub.

"EEEEEEEEEEEKK!" Someone nearby squealed. "Rodent! Here! It's dieseased!" Tohru turned to see a trio of three young girls, about her age, all blonde and pretty. One of them was pointing at Tohru, an expression of horror on her perfect face. Tohru hissed a little, a bit pissed that they had judged her straight away. She was a human girl in a raccoon's body, and she definately wasn't dieseased!

"Get AWAYEEEE!" The girl shrieked, attempting to stamp on Tohru with her heeled shoe. Tohru dodged each blow, but just to be on the safe side, she ran back in the direction of the Sohma house.

**~At the house~**

Yuki, Shigure and Kyo were peacefully all occupied in the warmth of the day. Yuki was laid on a put-up hammock in the garden, lazily flipping through a book. Kyo was basking in the sun's warm rays on the roof; and Shigure was on their shared computer looking at- um-Shigure stuff (**2)**...

All of a sudden Yuki sensed another rodent in the area. Another rodent... and he could smell Tohru... The rodent scent and the Tohru scent seemed mingled, mixed, as if they were the same. Closing his book with a soft thump, his swung himself out of the hammock and on to the lawn.

"Hey!" Kyo shouted from the roof. He sized up the distance between the roof and the ground, before leaping from the tiles and landing safely.

"Use your head," Yuki said, coldly. "You could've broke your neck,"

"Shut up, damn rat," Kyo spat back. "Can you smell Tohru?"

"Yeah, but her scent is mixed with a rodent..." Yuki began. Suddenly, he bolted for the porch.

"Wha... Hey! Yuki! Where're you going?" Kyo called, dashing after him.

They ran through the living room, startling Shigure who (!) quickly exited the page he had been looking at.

Yuki got to the front door and wrenched it open... to reveal a tiny raccoon sitting on the doorstep.

**1) Rokudenashi means bastard. Again, I did warn you at the beginning of the chapter that there were a few swears!**

**2) When I say 'Shigure stuff', I mean... er... porn... and... yaoi... and... (You know the rest.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

There was silence for a moment; Yuki just stood there, silent as he stared at the raccoon cub. Tohru staed back at him. She wondered if he could understand her if she spoke.

"Hey, what the hell- huh?" Kyo began, charging into the hall where Yuki stood quietly at the door. Kyo followed his gaze and blinked in surprise at Tohru. Tohru swallowed. Why did that moment feel so awkward **[That is kinda stupid...Would'nt you feel a little awkward if you had just changed into a raccoon?]**?

"Honda-san...?" Yuki murmured slowly, unsure. If that raccoon was an actual raccoon, then would it sit for so long on the door step without being spooked? Slowly, Tohru nodded and stood up, shaking herself.

"...Hi," She squeaked.

"CRAP!" Kyo yelled all of a sudden, causing Tohru to jump an inch or so into the air. "," He chanted, gripping the roots of his hair with both hands.

"Shut it," Yuki said icily, momentarily turning to face Kyo before returning his attention to Tohru.

"Honda-san, is that really you?"

"Yes... Yuki-kun," Tohru said, stepping forwards. Yuki bent down to examine her. "I... I'm not sure what happened- one minute I was in a cafe's toilets- the next I was a raccoon,"

"It's ok," Yuki said softly. He reached out a hand and patted Tohru on her small furry head. Tohru brushed up against the warmth of his palm. "Honda-san, um... may I?" Yuki asked, gesturing with his hands, asking if he could pick her up.

"Yes," Tohru replied, allowing herself to be lifted. Yuki's soft palms held her tenderly, supporting her with his arms and resting her against his chest. Tohru curled up; listening to the soft thump of his heart. But his body was tense... and the constant thump sounded more often than needed. Tohru lifted her head and lokked into Yuki's soft grey eyes.

"Yuki-kun?" Tohru asked. "What's wrong?" Yuki paused for a moment. Then he let out a small laugh, which sounded a little like a choke.

"Everything's fine, except for the fact you're a raccoon,"

Tohru managed a tiny raccoon grin before butting him affectionatly.

"Yuki-kun?" Shigure said as they entered the living room. "What's going on?" The computer made a soft hum as it shut down. He frowned a little when he saw a brown furry ball nestled in Yuki's arms. "Is that-?"

"This raccoon? It's Honda-san," Yuki said, crouching down and letting Tohru jump out of his arms. She skittered across the slippery table, trying not to fall over. Shigure removed his glasses and peered at Tohru, astounded.

"That's you, Tohru-kun?" He asked, blinking slowly.

"Um...Yes...Shigure-san," Tohru muttered.

There was a long pause.

Slowly, Shigure began to chuckle. He started softly at first but before long he was splitting his sides with laughter. Yuki glared at him, his eyes no longer soft and grey. They were icy and dangerous.

"Hell, it's not funny!" Kyo snapped from the door way.

"He's right, Shigure," Yuki agreed for once.

"I'm sorry," Shigure said, rubbing his eyes with his fist. He smiled and said,

"I suppose you want to know what happened,"

"Yes," Tohru said detirmendedly. Shigure chuckled a little again.

"Well, I'll tell you the story..."


	6. Chapter 6

**I've written this chapter in italics- This is to show that Shigure is talking, rather than having Shigure speakin than stopping, y'know, cos then I'de have to seperate it... etc, etc... I've also added some sppech in brackets to tell whats going on at the house.**

**Chapter 6**

_The world in which the zodiac had all began in, was called The land of- well, the land of the zodiac. _

_Just after the cat found out about the banquet, he was, of course, full of rage. He went to Kami _**[God] **_and complained. However, Kami refused to listen to the cat's story, accusing him of laziness and disloyaty. _

_The cat set out to catch the rat; furious. He was determined to get his revenge. However, the rat was quick and clever, and hid away from the cat when he came looking for the rat. Even when the cat saw him, the cat never caught him. _

_One day, after another failed attempt at revenge, the cat settled by the banks of a river. He had no clue what to do with this rat. It was too tiresome, so frustrating that the rat deceived him every time... _("Get on with it," Kyo said sharply. Shigure looked away, sweatdropping, before continuing:)

_Before long, the raccoon, an acquaintance of the cat's, appeared nearby. She had not been invited to the banquet to earn the honour of becoming the zodiac, however was content with it. After greeting the cat, she asked what was going on, as she had heard the story of how the twelve members of the zodiac had been wanted to know why the cat had not attended the ceremony. And so, the cat told her about the rat, and she looked on with a face of concern. The cat fell silent after his tale (_"Or rather, tail! Ha ha! Get it-? You know- cat's tail?" Shigure joked, but then got the image that no one was joking around.)_. The raccoon was concerned for the cat, and she wanted to help. She asked if there was anything she could do. The cat told her to find the rat and give the rodent to him. The raccoon agreed, glad to be of use, and went on her way._

_Unfortunately, the next day, the land of the zodiac shook with tremors and earthquakes. The ground beneath the animal's feet splintered and cracked, exposing the planet Earth below. Kami told them that he had created a race which he had named 'human'. He warned the creatures of the land of the zodiac that this race would cause destruction and violence. Each animal listened carefully as Kami explained that these 'humans' were the most intelligent things he had ever created. They would create things of power, and things of war, some would be good, others evil. _

_Kami had decided to prevent some of this happening he would send all of the animals residing here in the land of the zodiac to Earth, so as to keep the humans in order. All but the twelve zodiac members fell to the world below, and then a duplicate of themselves so they could reproduce. _

_However, the cat did not see this as fair how Kami kept behind only twelve animals. He was indignant that he had been tricked and not believed. So he prevented the raccoon from falling to earth just as the rest of the animals did , and told her to trick each zodiac member to joining him and the other animals in the world below. Raccoon couldn't go back on her promise she had made the other day- it was a fate worse than death. So, willingly, yet unwillingly, she passed round a note which told the zodiac to meet Kami on earth below. _

_The zodiac were uneasy, because they knew that if you went to earth you could never return. But they could not disobey Kami, so they gracefully rode a rainbow down to earth in hope to prove their loyalty. _

_Upon their arrival, they realised they had been tricked and wondered who to blame. Just at that moment, Kami had found the raccoon in the land of the zodiac, and threw her down to earth to join the others. And where should she land but at the feet of the zodiac. Of course they accused her straight away of their now ruined lives. To punish her, they set her spirit to reside in a human. This human would become a raccoon, and she would be 'sleeping'- in a dormant state untill someone posessing her spirit found her and returned it to her. So even now, the raccoon wanders the earth, but not fully animal- a former human who searches in vain for the raccoon obliged to the cat. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Heh, I've thought of SUCH a cool nickname for Kyo! (No, it's not Kyon-Kyon) It is... Kypo! Well, it's not cool, really. Ignore this! Just read the story.**

**Chapter 7**

"So the raccoon's spirit lives in people?" Tohru asked as Shigure finished his story. Her mind was spinning a little with this story.

"Yes, I suppose that's the easiest way of putting it," Shigure replied, fiddling with a a strand of dark hair. "Yuki-kun? Did you call Haa-san?"

Tohru glanced at Yuki. He had left the room? She hadn't noticed. Yuki looked away, hesitant, before nodding slowly.

"He said he'll be here soon," Yuki murmured. "With Momiji and Haru,"

"Huh?" Tohru exclaimed, leaping on to all fours. "Wha-? Why are they coming? With Momiji-kun AND Hatsuharu-san?"

"There, there, Tohru-kun," Shigure said, a hint of mock in his voice. He reached out to stroke her. "Haa-san should know about this. I think Momitchi and Haru-kun are coming of their own free will."

"B-but... I can't let them see me... like... Like this..." Tohru lifted a paw and glanced at it sorrowfully. "I don't want everyone to worry."

"It's just typical, y'know?" Kyo suddenly said from the doorway. He slid down the doorframe and spoke to the wood opposite. "Typical that Tohru should get cursed."

"C-cursed...?" Tohru repeated, her tiny raccoon ears drooping a little.

"Don't listen to him, Tohru-kun," Shigure told her, then turned to speak sharply to Kyo. "Kyo-kun! Don't frighten her, she's stressed enough."

"I should have gone with Honda-san," Yuki muttered slowly. "Then this would never had happened."

Tohru opened her mouth to reply but heard the distcint noise of a car door slamming.

"They're here!" She cried. "Already!" She made a dash for the edge of the table, skidding and sliding.

"Not so fast, Tohru-kun," Shigure said, reaching out to stop her. "Stay put like a good girl," The breif, shrill ring of the doorbell rang out into the hall. Yuki rose solemnly and stepped out of the room, delicatly avoiding Kyo. Tohru's ears drooped as Shigure patted her gently on the head. The three listened as there was the familiar dragging noise announcing that the front door opened. There was a slow hum as Yuki greeted theose at the doors, and then a much deeper buzz of Hatori's voice. Tohru shivered and twitched away from Shigure.

The voices got louder as four people drew nearer, before Momiji ran into the room, nimbly leaping over Kyo.

"Hey, Momitchi," Shigure greeted the rabbit.

"Hiiiiiiiii, Shii-chan!" Momiji cried, waving at Shigure even though they were only a metre or so away from each other. "I came to see Tohru!" There was a pause as Tohru hoped he hadn't seen her on the table. Momiji's usual care-free face fell. "You mean...?" The rabbit's gaze swept the room. His eyes fell on Tohru.

"Um..." Tohru began. "Hello... Momiji-kun..."

"Tohru?" Momiji said, walking over to the table and squatting down next to it so he was face to face with Tohru. "You turned in to the raccoon?"

"Don't crowd her," Hatori's cool voice made Tohru jump a little. He stepped into the room, his white shirt flapping round his thighs loosely. His black hair bounced over one of his eyes, and it bobbed as he acknowledged everyone in the room.

"I see," He muttered as he bent down to examine Tohru. "Honda-kun, how do you feel?"

"Um... Raccoon-like...?" Tohru replied. Her answer was a couple of snorts from Shigure who was silenced by a steely glare from Hatori.

"Seriously," Hatori said. "How do you feel?"

"Just... just normal, really. A bit awkward- with the four paws and everything- but other than that, I feel fine." Tohru murmured, embarrased at her former bluntness.

"That's bad," Hatori mumbled in reply.

"Huh?" Momiji suddenly said. It's not good?"

"No," Hatori began to explain, straightening up. "The more relaxed you feel in the raccoon's body, the longer you will stay in that form. It's like a comfy chair. After a while, you feel like you don't want to get up- or rather, you can't get up, with a cause such as numbness in the leg or pins and needles." Hatori shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry. Akito will have to see this."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the late update. :( I was ill and for some reason not allowed on the laptop (?) But anyway, I'm back on now. So, yeah. Enjoy the story!**

**A quick thanks to some loyal fans- FBFan, you are great, thankyou so much for your support, and I will do my part not to let you down!**

**Lady Elisabeth, you have commented twice, plus you were the first person to comment, so you are one of my fav people here on ! Plus, Lady E, I have recently got into Inuyasha, so expect some visits from me!**

**A huge thanks to you both.**

**Also, thanks so much, everyone whose commented on here, I'm so happy that I'm pleasing you. Now, the story...**

**Chapter 8**

"Hatori, no!" Everyone jumped at the sound of Yuki's raised voice. "Can't we leave Akito out of this for once?"

"Leave him out...?" Hatori repeated, slowly, as if not fazed by Yuki's threat. "Of course we can't. Honda-kun has been posessed by part of the 'outer' zodiac- that's the zodiac that contains creatures like the cat," He said to Tohru by means of explination.

"Akito needn't know." Yuki replied stubbornly. He stood up, shaking his head. "This is all too crazy. Why don't we just tell Honda-san how she can change back?"

"I can?" Tohru exclaimed at this, leaping on to her feet. "Please, tell me!"

Hatori opened his mouth, set to argue.

"Haa'ri," Momiji's small voice made everyone turn to him. "Must we let Akito know? Can't we just... tell Tohru what to do? See if we can accomplish it that way?"

"Momiji's right," Hatsuhara stepped from outside the door. He nodded at everyone to acknowledge them. "Honda-san (**1) **would be much better off without Akito knowing."

"That's simply insane." Hatori replied bluntly. "Shigure...?"

Shigure sighed, scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes for a moment. "Haa-san, I'm sorry, but the kids are right. Tohru-kun would be better off without Akito knowing." Hatori fixed a stern glare on Shigure, telling him otherwise. Shigure gave a small, childish grin, and simply said, "I think you'll find everyone in this room finds _you _the insane one," Hatori then, most unlike himself, flushed a deep red colour.

"What did you say?" He almost hissed. Tohru cocked her head to one side, her little bead-like eyes wide in surprise. Was this the side of Hatori that only Shigure knew of...? Shigure kept his smug little grin on his face.

"I said, YOOOOOOUUUU are insane," He replied mockingly. Hatori's eyes blazed like fire. "I think Tohru-kun makes quite a nice little raccoon, you insane person."

"Give me strength!" Hatori cried. "Are you a child?" And with that, he stormed out of the room, his usually calm demeanur ruined. The remaining six could hear the open of the front door, and then afterwards, the slam of Hatori's car door. Only moments after the engine started, and before long faded into the distance.

"Do...Do you think that he's gone to see Akito?" Momiji asked in a low voice. Shigure shook his head.

"No, Haa-san will wait untill we agree, even if he wants to tell Akito right away." Shigure sighed yet again, his childish play disappeared.

"Did you do that on purpose...?" Kyo asked in a dull voice.

"Mayyyybee," Shigure repiled cheekily, pulling an immature face. He then turned to Momiji and Hatushara. "Well, it looks like your ride home's gone. Are you two staying the night?"

"They have no choice," Yuki said, his voice dull and dark. "Haru, Momiji, you better sleep in the living room. We'll go prepare some futons." Yuki and Hatsuhara exited the room, however Momiji hesitated.

"Tohru...?"

"Yes?" Tohru replied, absentmindly licking her paw. She stopped short, reminding herself to act like a human... after all, that's what she really was.

"Are you... are you gonna be OK?" Momiji's face was full of anxiety, his voice dripping with sympathy. He was so gentle and kind it made Tohru want to cry. It was her own fault that she had turned in to a raccoon, and everyone was worried about her.

"I'll be fine, Momiji-kun," She replied in a strangled voice. "Please, don't worry on my account,"

Momiji hesitated again before standing up.

"OK then. Gute Nacht, Tohru."

"Gute Nacht," Tohru repeated wearily, not really knowingg what it meant.

Dark clouds had gathered outside Tohru's window. It was past ten pm, and now, Tohru watched from her bed- seemingly now a vast expanse to her in her tiny raccoon form- the stars glittering in the inky blue sky. She was too troubled to sleep. Of course she would be, she had become a raccoon. Yuki had knocked on the door, three times in the past hour, 'just to check she was alright'. Tohru guessed he was just concerned over her.

But he was worried about a very different thing indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>1) I'm not sure what Haru will call Tohru, so I substituted 'Honda-san', like Yuki. If you know please tell me. :)<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**This is based on some reviews, but that dosen't mean you still can't tell me what to happen! But please, instead of reviewing your ideas, send them in a PM. :) I don't want the story to be spoilt for other people. :)**

**Part of this chapter is in the point of view of the person who took Tohru's form, i.e. the previous raccoon. **

**Chapter 9**

I had been so lucky today. First of all, I had finally ditched the raccoon body on someone else, and took their form- and, luckily for me, it happened to be the body of a handsome teenage girl. Secondly, I now had a wonderful life because of her attractive-ness, already, I had several boys on my trail. She obviously didn't know that she happened to look great in a tiny boob tube, the shortest miniskirt ever, and a whole lot of sparkle.

I had a life, no longer did I have to live in the woods eating acorns and berries and generally what ever else I could find. And, also I had ruined some one else's life under orders for a handsome pay, and also for the joy of it- I mean, how fun is it making someone miserable?

I was perfectly happy- I had a body AND was paid to get it. All I had to do now was enjoy myself for the rest of my days...

**~At Shigure's house, in the morning~**

Tohru hadn't slept well at all that night. Well, she HAD slept, and stayed asleep throughout the night. But it was her dreams that had plagued her.

_I have done what you asked, master. A figure swathed in a black hooded cloak bowed low to someone sat with their back to them._

_Indeed? The one sat down chuckled a little. Well done, Kuro. You have taken their form I assume?_

_Yes, master. The cloaked figure took hold of it's hood and drew it back. It was Tohru- at least, the person in Tohru's body, looking solemn, yet a little pleased with themselves._

_You may do as you wish now, Kuro. The seated person said. I do not care for what you further may do. However, leave the Sohma family be, and do not reclaim the girl who's body you took._

_Yes, master. The Tohru-person repeated. They left abruptly. _

_The one sat down chuckled again. _

_Look out,Tohru. It warned. Expect trouble..._

Tohru sat up in her bed, blinking in the sunlight. The curtains were open wide, and so was the window. She frowned a little. Why was the window open...? Would Yuki have...? No, he wouldn't. He was too polite to come in while she was sleeping.

"Ah! Good morning, Tohru-kun!" A cheery female voice came from the doorway. Tohru jumped a little, before turning around to see Kagura smiling brightly at her from the entrance. She was wearing a lilac dress with a dusty rose coloured jumper underneath. However, on top, Kagura wore a yellow plastic apron with two pockets, which one contained a blue duster and the other an aerosol of furniture polish. She had tied a yellow bandanna round her head and clutched a feather duster.

"Ka...Kagura-san?" Tohru stammered. "Why are you here?"

"Why? Well, with you as a useless little raccoon-" She emphasized 'useless'- "-Shii-chan asked if I would come and do some cleaning for you!" Tohru sighed a little, remembering the first time Kagura had tried to be a good housewife she had made the washing machine overload with soap, and also set the kitchen on fire trying to make a cup of tea for Kyo.

"I opened the window because your room was so dusty, plus, it might start to stink of rodent if you stay as a raccoon for a while."

Tohru growled a little under her breath, when suddenly Shigure called from down stairs;

"Kagura-chan! You put the trash in the tumble dryer! And the laundry in the bin!"

"Oh!" Kagura's cheeks coloured a little. "I wondered why it was taking so long for the clothes to dry. Anyway, Tohru-kun, duty calls, bye-bye!"

Tohru stared after her in disbeleif as the boar charged back downstairs. Could someone really be THAT bad at house chores that they'de mix up the trash and the laundry?

Tohru collapsed back into bed and shoved her nose into her pillow. It smelt of her subtle perfume that Hanajima had got her for her birthday. Tohru closed her eyes. Hanajima and Uo must be so worried... No doubt they would come along to the Sohma house soon to ask where she was. Tohru could imagine Uo coming in clutching her iron pipe, about to whack Kyo one.

There was a scrabbling at the window. Tohru sat up, frowning. What was that?

Silence.

Slowly, she made her way over to the window (By crawling on to the bed side table, making a risky jump to the dresser and then almost a gravity defying leap to the curtain- where she desperatly clawed her way on to the window sill, where she sat, regaining her breath after her little misadventure.)

Tohru peered over the side of the windowsill at the roof below... And gasped. There stood a raccoon, larger than herself, but grey coloured and broader faced. At the sound of her gasp, the raccoon looked up. He seemed surprised. Then, he scrambled up the short distance between the roof and Tohru's window, before coming face to face with her. Tohru held her breath as it sniffed her. Then, without warning, it grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and leaped off the window sill, carrying Tohru with him.


	10. Chapter 10

**LET ME STILL SAY, I AM UP FOR SUGGESTIONS STILL. KEEP THEM COMING!**

**Chapter 10**

Tohru was helpless against this larger, more powerful raccoon- all she could do was wriggle desperately away from his grip. The raccoon ignored her and sized up the distance between the roof and the nearest tree. Tohru's eyes widened when she saw what he was planning to do.

"Let... Let _go _of me!" She cried, squirming frantically. "Get off...! Let go!" The older raccoon shook her a little, reminding her he could toss her off the building if he wanted too. A growl rose in his throat. Tohru swallowed nervously, pausing in her struggling as she did so. While she was still, the grey creature leapt off the roof and unsheathed his claws. Tohru screamed; just as his claws latched neatly on to a branch, stopping them from sliding off.

"Ho...Honda-san?" Tohru heard Yuki's call from her room.

"Yuki-kun!" Tohru screamed desperately. The grey raccoon sniffed in distatse and leapt from the branch. As he did this, Tohru's head suddenly caught on the tree trunk, and all went black.

Her mind felt like fog. Everything was all fuzzy... Her head was heavy and hurt like mad. Tohru, despite her pain, sat up a little and suddenly remembered the branch... and Yuki's distressed call...And that grey raccoon...

She shook her head, even though it throbbed, to try and clear the fog. Slowly, it ebbed away from from her eyes, only leaving the side of her vision slightly fuzzy. She was in a strange, dome shaped shelter, constucted entirely of twigs and dry leaves. Nearby, there was the distcintive roots and base of a tree.

Tohru frowned, and winced as she felt a cut sting above her eye. Where was she? Some sort of den...? A hideout?

A nearby slurping sound caught her attention. She turned and saw the broad shoulders of the grey raccoon as he hunched over something greedily, and seemed too intent on whatever he was doing to notice that Tohru was awake. Maybe she could take this oppurtunity to escape...!

Slowly, very carefully, Tohru heaved herself to her feet, ignoring a sudden flaming pain in her back left ankle, and the numbness of the other three paws. How long had she lain asleep? She took one step forward- and her paw collapsed beneath her, and, with a great rustle of leaves, she fell back onto the floor.

"Ho, she wakes!" Toheu jumped and quickly rolled up onto her front to see the grey raccoon looming over her, a smirk pricking his raccoon-y lips. A beetle was crawling around under his paw where he had trapped it, and in what would seem a sexy movement to a raccoon, threw it into his mouth with an unpleasent crunch. There was a pause as he chewed slowly.

"So, little one," He began, circling her, inspecting Tohru's small form. "What's your name?"

"Uh... Tohru, but..."

"Tohru?" The raccoon repeated, mockingly. "What kind of name is Tohru?" He chuckled slowly. "I'm Watage."

Tohru snorted. _Fluff_!_ His name was Fluff!_

Watage narrowed his eyes in to a steely glare before continuing. "How come you spoke to that human, eh?" He asked. "Well, not that he smelt human, but he looked it an' I'm no fool," Watage swept up to her face, so they were nose to nose. "So..?"

"Um... I...I live with him... and two more- uh, humans- Kyo-kun and Shigure-san," Tohru replied, trying not to meet Watage's gaze.

"-san? -Kun?" Watage repeated. "You talk like a human, _Tohru," _

"That's because... because I am!" Tohru retorted defiantly.

Watage stared at her in disbelief. Then he started laughing. He laughed and laughed and laughed madly, starting with a 'Ha ha ha ha ha ha !' and ending with a 'Ho ho!' So his laugh overall sounded something like;

"A-HA HA HA HA HA HA! HO HO!"

"Tohru, you little clueless midge, you're a raccoon! A raccoon!" He exclaimed. "You're just a little raccoon who wants to be a human. Nah, life ain't that kind."

"Eh..?" Tohru frowned again (Sting, went the cut). "Wh-what do you mean?"

"You, my dear little species confused Tohru," Watage replied, smiling again, his eyes explaining an emotion Tohru didn't know. "Are going to bear my litter; and then again next year; and again and again, year after year..."

Before she could speak, Watage had pinned her down from behind. She couldn't move...! She then realized that this was like being raped as a human... No... No...

"NO!" Tohru screamed. "NO! LET GO! HELP! HELP ME! HELP!" she cried, over and over again. A horny, perverted, pedofile raccoon? Now THAT'S one she had never heard before.

"Have no fear, my little Tohru," Watage whispered, silky sweet in to her ear. "You have no choice but to do this..."

"Ngh..." Tohru wriggled around wildly. If Watage made her pregnant as a raccoon, would she still be pregnant as a human? Would she give birth to raccoons? How many was an average raccoon litter? Five...? The thought of giving birth to five mutated human-raccoon babies nauseated her.

"Help..." Tohru cried once again weakly. It was all over. She might as well accept it...

Suddenly, the twig constructed walls collapsed around them.

And there stood the distcintive form of Kyo in his cat form.

* * *

><p><strong>Check my profile, loyal readers! Especially you, FBFan, and Lady Elisabeth!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Tohru blinked in surprise at Kyo's sudden appearence. His flaming orange fur was bristling and his eyes glowed with rage.

"K-Kyo-kun..." Tohru mumured in surprise. Watage seemed distracted at Kyo's sudden apppearance, and Tohru saw her chance to escape. Summoning up all of her not-so-great strength, she rolled onto her back and kicked Watage hard.

"Oof!" Watage winced and Kyo saw his chance and took it; he leapt onto the grey raccoon's back and wrestled him on to the ground.

"Tohru!" Kyo yelled from behind one of Watage's paws. "Get... Get to Yuki!" 'Yuki' was said as if it meant 'pig crap', which it probably did in Kyo's dictionary. Tohru nodded detirmendly and wriggled on to her front and scrambled on to her four dodgy paws. The ingured one gave way immediatly, but she ignored the sudden burning in her ankle and desperatly scrabbled along a couple of paces.

"Honda-san!" Yuki's distant cry echoed somewhere nearby.

"Yu..." The words had barely left Tohru's lips when Yuki came charging through the under growth. Without another word, he scooped her up, holding her close to his chest and continued to sprint madly through the forest.

Tohru closed her eyes and tears began to slip down her cheeks. Raccoon's couldn't really cry, she knew that, but she was a human girl, trapped inside a raccoon's body. The fur under her eyes grew matted.

"Honda-san?" Yuki muttered, slowing his pace a little. "Are you OK? No, wait; stupid question, you're obviously not," He slowed to a walk and patted her soft furry head."Don't worry. Everything will be fine,"

Tohru only wished she could believe him.

"You are such an IDIOT!" Kyo roared at Kagura later that afternoon.

"I-I'm sorry," Kagura mumbled, speaking to her chest as she tucked her chin on to her torso.

"Sorry doesn't change anything!" Kyo shook his head and held up the limp raccoon he was carrying. "THIS... This THING was about to rape Tohru!"

Kagura sniffed, and wiped her eyes with the back of her fist. The plastic of her apron crackled. "Kyo-kun," She said suddenly.

"What?" Kyo snapped.

"Why... Why do you care about Tohru-kun so much?" Kagura stood up abruptly.

"Huh..?"

"I knew it!" Kagura cried. She pointed an accusing finger at Kyo. "You love her!"

"What the he-" Kyo began.

"KYO-KUN, YOU BETRAYED ME!" Kagura wailed and floored him with one punch.

Yuki watched this for a second, nibbling on some pickled radish slices he found in the fridge. Tohru sat quietly on the table next to him. She was still a little shaken from her whole experience with Watage- or 'Fluff-Ass' as Kyo had taken to calling him.

Once Yuki had taken her away from Watage, Kyo had kept the angry raccoon at bay for as long as he could, giving Yuki some time to gain distance between them. But of course- soon Kyo changed back in to a human, and, without any consideration towards ANYTHING living on planet earth, he killed Watage with a lethal punch. A similar sort of punch to the ones Kagura was so generously influencing on Kyo at that very moment.

Yuki sighed and turned to Tohru in effort to make some sort of conversation.

"I guess Shigure will be back soon; he took Momiji and Haru back to the main house,"

"Oh," Tohru replied, sighing too and gazing out of the window. "Right."

There was a long pause, only interuppted by the distant sobbing (They had taken the fight outside) of Kagura and the yelling of Kyo.

"_Fine! I'll leave then." _

_"Good!"_

_"You idiot! Don't you love me...?"_

_"What? LOVE you? Hell no... OWCH!"_

Yuki got up from his seat and peered round the paper door in to the garden where he could see a battered looking Kyo, and Kagura storming off, still fully kitted out in her cleaning gear.

"Oh dear," Yuki said, his voice completely lacking sympathy. "We've lost our temporary cleaner. Ah, well." He shrugged before returning to his seat, reaching for another slice of pickled radish. "I was kind of sick of getting my face dusted every few seconds,"

This was said as a joke, of course, and Tohru smiled obediently. Yuki gave her a small smile and stood up again, taking the empty pickled radish bowl to the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, Tohru heard the distant _trrrrrriiinnnnngg _of the door bell.

"That'll be Shigure," Yuki's voice drifted in from the kitchen. His footsteps resounded into the hall and then the drag of the paper door as it was opened. Then there was the deep hum of Shigure's voice as he greeted Yuki and then Yuki's soft murmur. Tohru guessed he was telling the dog what had happened.

There was a long silence before the two entered the living room where Tohru was.

"Hello, Tohru-kun," Shigure said, in that over-cheery way of his. Tohru forced herself to cheer up.

"Good morning, Shigure-san,"

"Yuki told me of your little misadventure," Shigure replied, and patted her furry head with his index finger. "All that matters is that you're safe now." He looked up at Yuki. "Where's Kagura?"

"That stupid cat managed to get her to leave,"

"Ah," A hint of amusement pricked Shigure's lips. "I thought the harder Kyo-kun tried to drive her off the more determined she becomes to stay,"

"What the hell?" Kyo appeared in the door way. "What made her think that I love her? Why doesn't she get the picture, dammit?" He was covered in leaves for some reason. They were stuck in his hair like some sort of decoration and had managed to wedge themselves in to the folds of his clothes. "She threw me into a tree!"

"Peace, Kyo-kun," Shigure said, waving his hand dismissevly.

"Peace? I'll NEVER get any peace as long as I'm here! There's that damn rat-" As Kyo said this, Yuki lunged forwards to hit him swiftly. Kyo, surprisingly, dodged it and caught hold of Yuki's wrist.

"I know that move! You use it on me every time!"

Yuki raised his eyebrows and pulled his wrist back. His feelings were carefully hidden, but Tohru could see slight surprise in his face.

"I'm sick of everything! Everyhing!" Kyo was cursing. His temper seemed to have built up and come out in one big dose.

"One of these days I'll leave here-" A leaf fluttered down from his jacket. It swayed around in the breeze coming in from the door, before landing right on Tohru's head.

And then she exploded in to purple smoke.


	12. Chapter 12

**Heh heh, what a crazy cliff hanger. Let me just say the ideas thing FAILED EPICLY. Not many people gave me ideas. :/ So yeah. Next time I do that, ideas PLEASE else I will go on a hiatus! :) Oh yeah, I'm not taking ideas any more.**

**Chapter 12**

Of course Tohru didn't really explode. The purple smoke simply concealed her... as she transformed.

Tohru gave a small cry of alarm when the leaf hit her and caused the smoke to fly up from no where. All she could see was purple cloud all around her. What on earth was happening?

All of a sudden, Tohru felt her paws being dragged off of the table. She was floating now...! What could make it weirder?

Well.

This.

Suddenly, Tohru noticed her fur thinning out. It was falling off her...to reveal her normal peachy shaded skin.

"What in the world..." She mumbled to herself. Then her paws- the front two- the small, stubby toes elongated in to fingers, and the paw in to a palm. The back two paws began to stretch in to feet. She looked down and her snout was pushing itself back in to her face, the nose shaping back into it's natural ski-slope shape. Her broad face narrowed and her thick bushy tail shrank into her tail bone.. Tohru gazed at her body- ah, her figure returned- but she was completly naked.

And that was when the smoke cleared.

Kyo, Yuki and Shigure were staring at her, wide eyed and surprised.

Without really thinking, Tohru's arms wrapped themselves around her body.

"O-Kay, I think we've seen quite enough!" Shigure suddenly burst out and, with one swift move, pushed both Yuki and Kyo out of the room, and then slammed the door shut behind him.

"I-I'll fetch you some clothes, Tohru-kun!" His voice came from outside the door, wavering a little. Not a minute later the door opened a crack and a white, thin summer dress that came down to an inch above Tohru's knees was thrown in. Hurridely, Tohru slipped the garment on, now flushing a deep pink realising that all three Sohmas had seen her UTTERLY NAKED- Well. That was something they wouldn't forget in a while.

Once she had got over her blushes, she checked her reflection in the mirror. She really WAS human again... all because of a leaf? Her long brown hair was flowing loose around her face- she looked exactly the same aside from her rosy cheeks.

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Um...Honda-san?" Yuki said from outside, his voice trembling a bit. Tohru pictured him blushing too. "Uh... Can we come in now...?"

"Y-yes!" Tohru replied, her voice a little high pitched. She touched her throat gently, just as the door opened. Yuki stepped in first, and, just as expected, he had a little more colour in his face than usual. Without looking at Tohru he sat down immediatly and stared at his bare feet. Shigure followed soon, and sat down next to Yuki, however he smiled brightly at Tohru and began to talk.

"Glad to see you back to normal, Tohru-kun... Hm?" He broke off as he saw Tohru looking at the door curiously.

"If you're wondering where Kyo-kun is, he's upstairs, being a grumpy-puss." Shigure gave another bright grin before beginning to speak again. "Anyways, I think I know what's happened."

"Really?" Tohru snapped back into the conversation. She sank down into a chair across from the sofa where Yuki and Shigure sat. Yuki was still silently inspecting his toe nails.

"Yes. Well, I think I do. One second..." Shigure rose and strode across the room to the stacked bookshelf. His fingers danced across the spines of each volume before an "Aha" issued from his lips. He pulled the book off the shelf, letting Tohru glimpse the title; _Myths and Legends of Japan._

"I knew I had it somewhere," Shigure said proudly as he collapsed back onto the sofa and began to flip through the book, peering closely at the pages.

"Honestly, Shigure," Yuki looked up at last. "You have a book on everything that ever walked upon the planet."

Shigure waved a finger in the air and muttered, "Knowledge, Yuki-kun; knowledge," before stabbing a page with his finger. "Here it is! Ahem," He reached into the pocket of his kimono (Do kimonos have pockets?) and retreived his glasses. He slipped them on and began to read.

"_In Japanese folklore it is said that foxes and raccoons are able to transform by placing a leaf upon it's head. It is said some items- such as a large blooming flower- are enchanted so as to keep up the guise for long periods of time. Some- _Hm hm hm hm hmmm..." Shigure's eyes skimmed across the paragraph in the book. "...And I think that's it," He looked up at Tohru. "So you see?"

"I-I guess," Tohru stuttered.

There was a crash as Yuki leapt tohis feet and upturned the table.

"Akito..." He murmured.


	13. Chapter 13

**Oh dear! Chapter 13, unlucky! Heh heh, I may be evil to the characters now... Heh heh heh... I'm evil...**

**Chapter 13**

At this point, Kyo was on the roof, breathing shallowly and trying to reflect on what had happened.

_I did not just see Tohru's boobs. I did not just see Tohru's boobs. I did not just see Tohru's boobs. I did not just see Tohru's boobs..._

"OK-! Maybe I did!" He cried out to no one in particlular.

_But that doesn't mean I'm thinking about them now, and I'm not aroused or anything. Yeah. I'm not aroused. Not at all am I aroused. I'm not aroused. I'm not aroused. I'm not aroused. I'm not aroused. I'm not aroused. I'm not aroused..._

"Yup, I'm totally aroused...!" Kyo yelled in frustration, throwing his hands in to the air before letting them drop down again. Why did girls' breasts make boys feel all... AROUSED...

"Man, I'm such a pervert..." Kyo muttered, putting his face in his hands.

Tweet. Tweet.

Kyo looked up in surprise. A bird...?

Usually birds avoided him (After all,he WAS the cat), so it would be surprising to see one nearby.

Tweet tweet. Tweeeeetttt.

Then Kyo saw it.

A small, blue-ish white bird perched on the chimney, it's feathers all neatly smoothed down in place. It cocked it's head at Kyo, and chirped once again.

"What the hell do you want?" Kyo mumbled. The bird paused, it's head still on one side. Then, surprisingly, it fluttered towards the cat and landed on his knee, where it began to preen itself.

"...Eh...?" Kyo sweatdropped. A bird was acting super-friendly with him? This wasn't normal...

"Though I'm not exactly normal either," He muttered, his gaze dropping to his bracelet. Surpressing a shudder, he hid the bracelet under his jacket sleeve and turned his gaze away, guessing the bird would just fly away.

Tweeeet!

The little bird sounded indignant.

"What?" Kyo retorted hotly. "Why the hell do you just keep staring at me? What do you want? Huh?"

The bird (Obviously) said nothing but hopped around before flapping it's wings and flying to perch on his shoulder.

Kyo sweatdropped yet again. He was talking to a BIRD. Now he knew Tohru becoming a raccoon was affecting him- so much he was going mad.

Kyo could feel the bird's feet on his shoulder as it chirped and flapped it's wings as if trying to talk to him.

"Sorry, I don't speak bird," Kyo said gruffly in a low voice.

Tweet...

This time, the bird sweatdropped, which birds can't actually do, but this is an anime/manga world so ACCEPT it!

Suddenly, the bird nipped Kyo's ear for no real reason with it's beak, before hopping up on to the cursing cat's head.

"Ow! What the-?" Kyo cried in a mixture of anger and mild pain. "Stupid bird...!" He shook his head, trying to get the bird off his head and make it GO AWAY.

The bird seemed to have super glue on it's feet, since it stayed on and furiously pecked at Kyo's forehead.

"Ow ow ow ow ow! Damn bird...!" Kyo swatted at the bird untill it flew down from his head and perched next to him, a curious look on it's birdie face.

"Why you little...!" Kyo growled and lunged out at it furiously.

But then something stopped him. It... was a flash of Tohru's face...

Kyo blinked.

There it was again- only more clear.

And then Kyo was drowned in a murky darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

What immediatly sprang to mind was squid ink.

Black, thick, slightly-purple squid ink which blew bubbles as Kyo thrashed around.

"What the hell...?" The cat mumbled. Well, it came out as, "Walla la ell...?" As if his voice was muffled by water.

By this substance was far thicker than water.

And it threatened to suffocate Kyo.

Desperatly, Kyo clawed his way through the mess, his head thumping from lack of oxygen. He had to get out...

But everytime he moved, the duller his vision got, the more the liquid clung to him, the more it began to drag him down to darkness...

Suddenly, from high above, there was a faint glow of light.

"Crap..." Kyo cursed (Really saying, "Llap,"). "Why does it ALWAYS have to be towards the light?" ("Lie roes it LOWAYS laff to be owards le ligh?")

Nevertheless, summoning up all of his strength, he kicked furiously and and began to swim upwards. His lungs screamed for air. Everything ached, it ached wildlt, and all Kyo wnated to do was sleep... But if he slept, he might never wake up again.

The light was near. Just a metre of so away from Kyo's groping hand.

And then he breathed.

With a choke, the inky substance around him seemed to shoot straight through his nose and ears and mouth, filling his head with fog and gloop.

"NO!" Kyo shook his head and clawed his way upwards desperatly.

His hand came in contact with fire, a vicious fire which burnt his hand with no mercy. There was pain, unforgivable, terrible pain that shot through the cat's body.

_A bird did this...? _Kyo thought as he went limp like a rag doll.

This was it. His life was over.

Because a bird pecked him.

Great.

THUMP.

Kyo's eyes snapped open.

The black ooze had gone.

Slowly, he sat up and looked around. He was in a very square room with airy, light green painted walls and a paper door. The door was open to reveal a neatly kept garden. It was quite a large room, however, was very sparse of furniture. There was only one low table with three cushions round it, and on one of those cushions...

THE BIRD!  
>"YOU...!" Kyo roared and leapt to his feet. With a twinge of disgust, he realised he was covered in black-purple goo, probably from his recent ordeal, which clung to him in thick, gloopy strings. Ignoring this, he lunged for the bird, but was suddenly tossed back by an invisible force and pinned to the wall.<p>

"What the-" Kyo growled, and suddenly, iron cuffs sprang out of the wall and latched round his wrists and ankles. A larger one revolved slowly around his neck.

Now he couldn't move without breaking his neck.

Kyo gulped softly before yelling out loud.

"HEY! WHO THE HELL'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF!"

The bird chirped brightly.

"YOU!" Kyo snapped at the bird. If you captured that moment on a camera, as a phoyo, it would have looked quite funny: Kyo yelling his head of at a seemingly innocent bird.

"YOU!" Kyo repeated. "ONCE I GET OUT OF HERE I'LL..."

"I would prefer it if you didn't threaten my bird," Someone said coolly. Kyo's gaze averted to the table, where a figure had appeared, sitting with their back to him.

"And who the hell are you?" Kyo spat furiously. In his rage he had failed to notice the obvious. "What makes you think you can just send your bird to nearly fucking kill me? And what the fuck's with these!" Kyo rattled his fists around in the cuffs.

The figure's shoulders hunched a little, as if they were smirking.

"And what makes you think you can talk that way to me...?"

Kyo stopped squirming and glared furiously at the back of the person.

"What do you mean?"

The figure chuckled.

"I mean exactly what I say... Kyo..."

"Wuh..." Kyo blinked several times. "Wuh...A-Akito...?"

Akito turned round with a nasty little grin on his face.

"Of course. Didn't you sense me?" He asked smoothly, gliding towards Kyo. "Or sense me within my bird? You are PATHETIC!" Akito slapped Kyo across his cheek, making Kyo gasp in shock and pain. One of Akito's long fingernails had caught him just under his eye, where there was now a long, thin, red scratch, which immediatly welled up with blood.

"W-what do you want... Akito..." He rasped. Akito smirked and reached out with one hand. His bird fluttered onto his fingers obidiently. They were silent for a moment before Akito began to speak.

"It's about Tohru Honda," He purred, like a satisfied cat.


	15. Chapter 15

**Listen, guys, I'm finding it really hard to update often enough to please you guys, so, please be patient with me! The chapters are short because I only ever have an hour at a time to go on... :/ OK! Plus, I'm having a tough time at school with people, so yeah, I'm feeling pretty lonely... **

**Oh! Not many people got the ooze and stuff... Just ignore it. ^.^**

**Chapter 15**

"It's about Tohru Honda," Akito purred softly. Kyo glared at him from the wall. Well, what else would it be about?

"And...?" Kyo snapped. "She's OK again now, isn't she?"

Akito looked at him sarcastically.

"Of course not. The leaf only ever makes raccoon transformation temporary," His bird chirped brightly and fluttered off of Akito's outstretched finger, outside to where it perched on one of the cherry blossom trees, singing for all it was worth. Akito smirked and rubbed the tips of his right hand index finger and thumb together.

Kyo glared even harder at God.

"And you can stop that glaring," He suddenly said coolly.

"Look, what do you want...?" Kyo snarled and tried to wriggle his wrists out of the cuffs. It was useless.

"Tohru Honda will never be the same again," Akito stated, and leant onto the barrier of the small veranda. "You know how the raccoon's curse can be broken, am I right?"

"Of course!" Kyo grunted. The more he struggled, he soon realised, the tighter the cuff around his neck became. "Why are you doing this to me...?"

"So...?"

"Uh?"

"Answer the question. How can the raccoon's curse be broke?" Akito repeated, picking up an apple that was lying on the table and began to twist the stem.

"The one posessed by- by the raccoon's spirit, has to find the real raccoon's dormant body so as to return... the... spirit..." Kyo gasped for air as the cuff closed in tighter. Akito gave a wry smile.

"Good," He uttered smoothly. The cuff immediatly loosened, and Kyo gulped down oxygen like a wolf would with meat.

"And...? What else do you want?" Kyo spat once he'de regained his breath. Akito frowned and signalled to some one outside the room.

"Kenti," He called, without taking his eyes off Kyo. "Bring it in now, would you?"

A moment later, a stout, elderly woman tottered in carrying something wrapped in light blue cloth. She place it on the table and bowed low to Akito.

"Here it is, sir. Although I insist you throw it away soon, it's a dead animal after-"

"Thankyou! Kenti," Akito held up a hand for silence. "You leave now," Kenti bowed low again and hobbled outside.

Akito took a corner of the blanket and toyed with it in between his fingers.

"You want to see?" He asked smugly. Without waiting for an answer, he unwrapped... The still body... Of a raccoon...

"Is... Is that..." Kyo struggled a little more as if desperate to get a closer view.

"Yes," Akito murmured, his voice like silk. Like silk, yet too rough to touch. His voice was edged with evil.

"This is the very first raccoon. The one who helped the cat. The one whose spirit seeks the cat to have revenge..."

_Revenge...? _Kyo thought. _Oh, so not only the rat hates me but the damn raccoon too? _

Akito was chuckling soundlessly.

"You don't know, do you?" He asked, the edge still in his voice, but more mocking. "Think! The cat asked the raccoon to help him. The raccoon helped, but got punished. Don't you think she would seek revenge?"

Kyo gritted his teeth and silently ground them.

"Well, I kind of figured that!" He lied. "But I've never had any raccoon come after me!"

"The raccoon is waiting." Akito replied bluntly. He twisted the apple stalk right off and tossed it to the ground. "Once she gets back to her own body, the raccoon will come after you."

"And Tohru...?"

Akito gave a crooked smirk.

"Considering that she would be the last raccoon spirit host, she would stay in the form she's in now."

Kyo closed his eyes, suddenly feeling all of his rage subside. So if he didn't want a raccoon chasing him... Tohru would never be human again...? She would always be a raccoon...? The image of Tohru-raccoon floated in his mind and he squeezed his eyes even tighter shut. There was matted fur under her eyes and her irises were dewy with tears. And imagine the rest of the Sohma family... Shigure's stricken face, Kisa's sobbing, Hatori's grim glares, Ayaa's eerie silence, Momiji's hurt and confused look, Haru's black side contorted with misery... And Yuki, beating Kyo to a pulp with his fist alone.

Curse it...!

"Why are you telling me this?" Kyo asked, his voice ragged and hoarse as if it was made of sandpaper.

"Because I am going to give you three options," Akito's voice rang out clearly in the room. "You can either: one, let the raccoon's sprit return to it's proper body,"

_Not if Tohru stayed as a raccoon, _Kyo thought grimly. He shook his head, and Akito continued.

"Two, Spend a lifetime trying to find a cure for the posession of the raccoon."

_Not if it takes a lifetime..._ Kyo put his head on one side.

"Maybe.." He said quietly.

"Three..." Akito paused for a long time, peeling the apple skin away from the fruit, leaving only it's snow-white flesh.

"Well...?" Kyo prompted. "What is it?"

"Three," Akito repeated "Kill yourself so as to let the raccoon be at peace."

The cuffs slipped away from Kyo's neck and wrists, and he began to fall, fall back into the ooze, and the last thing he heard before all went black was the distcintive crunch of the apple as it was bitten.


	16. Chapter 16

**Whoooo! Got to update sooner than expected!**

**Chapter 16**

"What..?" Shigure exclaimed and leapt to his feet with a horrified expression on his face. "Where? Where, Yuki?"

Yuki's grey eyes were wide with fear and panic. He licked his lips.

"Up... Somewhere... Up..." He muttered. Shigure bolted out of the room and dashed up the stairs.

"A-Akito...?" Tohru murmured. She had heard of him, the leader of the Sohma clan, but she had never met him.

Yuki closed his eyes and swallowed, his hand running over his face lightly.

"Yeah... I can kinda sense him..."

"Oh... right..." Tohru looked at her hands, the hands that were paws only half an hour ago. She couldn't beleive she was a human again...

"Why is he here?" She asked in a quiet voice. "You don't think Hatori-san...? Even though what Shigure-san said..."

Yuki shook his head, sighing.

"That's not like Hatori. I'm guessing he just..." Yuki broke off and his head snapped up to look at the ceiling. "Oh shit..."

Without another word, he shot off up stairs.

"Y-Yuki-kun-!" Tohru cried and stumbled after him. She stubbed her toe pretty hard against the door frame as she did so.

"Ow!" She rubbed her sore toe and carried on upstairs, up again, and onto the roof...

Shigure and Yuki were crouched over Kyo's still body. Tohru let out a little shriek and muffled it with her hands. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes.

"Wha...What..."

"We don't know," Yuki replied, rocking back on his heels. He glanced at Kyo's face, contorted by pain. His eyes were shut tightly and his eyebrows were narrowed into slants."We'll ask him when he wakes up,"

"He's... He's not dead...?" Tohru whimpered, looking pale. She crept over to them and crouched beside Kyo. She picked up his hand and held it against her chest. It was so cold...

"No, he's not dead, of course." Shigure replied, checking Kyo all over for any inguries of broken bones. He pressed two fingers against Kyo's throat. His pulse seemed too rapid for normal...

"We should take him inside." Yuki said surprisingly. "He could be out cold for hours. It'll be dark by then."

"Yes," Shigure nodded. "We'll take him in Yuki; Tohru-kun, will you prepare some tea?" He asked with a dazzling smile.

"O-of course," Tohru replied, wiping away her tears with her hand before clambering down the ladder and into the kitchen.

She threw some tea leaves in to three cups and stared at the wall while the kettle boiled. What had happened to Kyo? And what was going on with Akito? How unlike Yuki to swear... Tohru plucked a tissue from the box on the counter, blew her nose, washed her hands and set to work on making six onigiri rice balls, three flavoured salmon, two spinach and one leek. She placed them onto a platter, poured the tea into the cups, then placed it all on to a tray. Tohru stared at the tea and onigiri for a moment, then sighed and set about making a fourth cup of tea for Kyo. She placed that on the tray too and carried it in to the living room. Kyo was lying, still unconcious, on the sofa, with his jumper folded up under his head. Shigure was sitting across from him on his armchair, casually flicking through the newspaper, and Yuki was stood at the open door, gazing out in to the garden.

"How is he?" Tohru asked meekly, placing the tray on the low table and gave Shigure the first cup.

"Thankyou, Tohru-kun. He's fine, but still unconcious as you can see."

"Yes..." Tohru sighed and took a cup for herself and sipped at it miserably.

Yuki came over from the door frame and knelt down by the table too. He took a cup, took a sip then aimlessly swirled the liquid around. He face looked troubled.

"Um... Yuki-kun, do you want to say something?" Tohru asked, peering at the rat worriedly.

Yuki glanced at Kyo and back at the table, picking a corner off a rice ball and nibbling at it hesitantly. With a rustle, Shigure put down his paper and looked at his cousin expectantly. Yuki sighed and went over to the sleeping cat. He lifted Kyo's flaiming orange fringe upwards to reveal a small red spot- it held a little blood that had been smudged by his hair all over his forehead.

Tohru gasped and Shigure rasied his eyebrows.

"I think I know what happened," Yuki said in a low voice. "It looks likes the mark of a bird pecking. And I sensed Akito. I'm guessing this was Akito's bird," He slowed at this then glanced at Shigure from underneath his hair. "I'm just guessing,"

"Yes, I know, I know, carry on," Shigure said waving his hand dismissivly.

"I think Akito used his bird to send Kyo to him. I think he talked to Kyo about Tohru."

"About me...?" Tohru repeated and scratched the top of her head. Something fluttered down form her head and landed on her lap. Frowning, she picked it up.

"Oh no..." She murmured.

She was clutching a leaf.

The very leaf that had changed her into a human.

With a flying of purple smoke, her feet shrank into paws, her tail grew back, her hair shot back into her skull and fur began to thicken on her skin, etc.

The white dress collapsed around her.

She crouched down under the white fabric and trembled with misery.

"Honda-san...?" Yuki muttered. Tohru shook her head fiercly, even though he couldn't see her. Of course it was only temporarily... Only when she had a leaf on her head...

"I'm sorry, Honda-san," Yuki muttered softly and scooped her out from underneath the dress. He cradled her to his chest muttering to her soothingly.

Shigure looked at the two tenderly, with the face of someone who wanted to help but had no possible way to acheive that.

"Nnn..." All three whipped round to look at Kyo.

"Nn... Mm..."

Slowly, his orange-red eyes opened eased open.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry about such a long time for an update. I have two reasons: 1) Crappy writers block...! 2) was being retarded and I couldn't get on my account... So sorry. My writers block is pretty bad right now... Ah...**

**Oh. Just had a thought. Are there wild raccoons in Japan? Because if not, I'll have to change the effing thing...**

**Chapter 17**

"Kyo- Kyo-kun?" Tohru stammered.

The cat's orange eyes blinked for several moments trying to register where he was and what was happening.

"Whatha..." He tried to speak, his throat sticking together. His mouth felt fuzzy.

"Kyo-kun, have some tea and one of Tohru-kun's tasty rice balls." Shigure insisted, offering him the remaining cup and a salmon onigiri.

Kyo sat up and took the cup and gulped down it's contents. He refused the onigiri and placed the cup next to the sofa.

"Um..." Tohru began, breaking the silence. Kyo looked up wearily, his face full of fatigue.

"Huh...? Where are you, Tohru?" He asked, looking around as if she might magically appear near the door frame or over the sofa's head board.

With a sigh, Yuki picked Tohru up again and placed her on the table. Feeling very self concious, Tohru stared at her paws and shifted around a little.

"Oh..." Kyo mumbled. "You're a raccoon again... Oh yeah... The leaf transformation is temporary..." He groaned softly and rubbed his face with his hand.

"How...?" Shigure suddenly said.

"How what?" Kyo muttered crossly. He was in the mood which Shigure had christaned as 'being a grumpy puss'.

"How do you know the leaf transformation is temporary? You weren't with us when I explained the whole leaf concept,"

"I was with..." Kyo began. Suddenly, he bolted upright and looked around the room with a cheesed off look about him.

"Aw crap. That really happened, didn't it...?"

"What happened?" Tohru prompted.

"AKITO!" Kyo roared. He slapped himself on the forehead. "Dammit dammit dammit dammit... Damn HIM never mind it..."

Yuki had a cold, stony look plastered on his face.

"So I was right," He uttered smoothly.

"CLAM IT DAMN RAT!" Kyo bellowed.

"Please, Kyo-kun..." Tohru piped up. Kyo was still ranting madly- about something that none of the three could understand. It sounded like:

"I WISSTHA NEDDEA AIDG NNEK NEZSUMA BARAAKA..." and so forth...

Tohru gave a soft moan from under her breath. She clambered down from the table and clawed up the side of the sofa untill she was on Kyo's lap. She pawed him several times.

"Kyo-kun! Please! Calm down!" She cried.

Kyo stopped abruptly and blinked at the raccoon looking earnestly at him from his lap. He sighed, giving her an awkward pat- his hand was crooked and rigid.

"Now," Tohru said softly and climbed up onto the arm of the sofa behind Kyo. "Kyo-kun, what happened?"

With another sigh, Kyo beagn to speak. Or rather mumble. Whichever.

"I was on the roof. Then this bird came and started randomly pecking at me. Then I found myself in this black ink substance- it was drowning me. Then I saw light and then I was in Akito's chambers. I saw that damn bird and... Crap this sounds stupid... I went to tear it's fucking wings off it's fucking body and I was thrown against the wall. I pinned to it by weird metal cuffs- two round my wrists and ankles and one round my neck. Then Akito appeared, telling me not to threaten his fucking bird or whatever... Then he started going on about Tohru. He started talking about how this whole raccoon curse thing works. Apparently, to transform back, the person in the raccoon's form must meet the raccoon's dormat body..."

"Wait, what, what?" Shigure interuppted. "A dormant body?"

"Don't you know?" Kyo asked, looking at Shigure as if he was a very small, stupid child. "The raccoon was sent into a dormant state as a punishment for tricking the zodiac to go to earth," He sighed heavily. There was a long pause.

"I can change back...?" Tohru said quietly. "So there is a way?"

Shigure was silent for a moment, pulling at the corner of the rug. Kyo looked away, blushing a little, grabbed an onigiri and bit into it for something to do. Rice sprayed every where.

"Yes, it is possible," Yuki broke the eerie silence that had settled over the group like a cloud of mist. "We didn't want to tell you because it's... a bit extreme,"

"Akito told me about that too," Kyo interuppted with his mouth full. He chewed a little, looking thoughtful, before swallowing and wiping the corner of his mouth with his wrist. "He said there were three ways,"

"We only knew of one," Shigure mused. He gave another child-like grin. "You must be special, Kyo-kun. Perhaps you and Akito have something going on...?"

"SHUT IT YOU PERVERT!" Kyo bellowed.

"One of them was trying to find a cure for the raccoon's curse,

"Like THAT'S going to help," Yuki said stonily. He looked coldly at Kyo. "Do you have any idea where to start?"

"Well I didn't say it was the best option!" Kyo retorted. "I'm just repeating whaat Akito told me!"

"Now now, Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun. Quieten down, now. What are the other two ways?" Shigure waved the two down.

"One of the other ones is... Is to..." Kyo glared at his knees as his hands curled into fists. "Akito told me I could kill myself."

Tohru gasped as the most horrifying image burst into her mind. Kyo with a kitchen knife sticking out of his chest, blood all over the kitchen and staining his shirt, his eyes losing their glow as his fire burnt out...

"No!" Tohru squeaked. Three Sohmas glanced at her before resuming their talk.

"And how would that help?" Shigure purred, totally un-nerved.

"The raccoon is on earth because she wants to have revenge on the cat for asking her to help him defeat the rat, thus giving her punishment from the zodiac when she tricked them." Kyo explained in a robotic voice. "If I, the cat, died, then the raccoon's soul would be at peace and return to it's own body."

"I presume the third is the one we know of?" Shigure assumed. He took a sip of his tea.

"If you're talking about the one where the bearer of the raccoon's spirit meets the first raccoon's dormant body, then yeah."

"That seems like the best option." Yuki said and stood up. "But the raccoon's body could be anywhere right now,"

"Akito has it." Kyo was met with three confused looks. "Akito has the raccoon's body."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! You guys check out my new furuba story! I like it!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm so so sorry! I had a mini-break from this story, but I'm back now so yeah, I'm still alive and breathing. :) But to make it clear of my sorry-ness I've treated my regular readers to an extra-long chapter. Enjoy! Updates will be (Fingers crossed) regular from now on, and if I have any other breaks from this story, I'll be sure to tell you. Now, BECOMING THE ZODIAC- CHAPTER 18!**

**Chapter 18**

There was nothing but silence for ages afterwards. No one spoke. No one moved. Not a finger was lifted. The four seemed to be frozen. Only their eyelids moved as they blinked slowly.

Tohru may have been still, but inside, she was an undescriable mess. Akito had the raccoon's body. Akito had the raccoon... It was the weirdest feeling she had inside her. It was dread, mingled with anticipation, hope, happiness,releif and fright... I think it's formal name was 'confused'.

Yuki was breathing heavily on the couch across from her, his hands balled into fists. His eyebrows were narrowed as his face was contorted with rage. His princliness was gone. All that it left was fury. Shigure sat quite motionless on the floor. His eyebrows still raised, like they usually were when he was mocking someone. But there was no trace of mockery. Just shock. And a hint of malice. Kyo's head was leaning on his knees as he swayed, ever so slightly as if to comfort himself. Tohru couldn't tell what he was thinking. He had always been so good at hiding his feelings.

It was the buzz of Kyo's message alert on his phone that shocked the four out of their stillness and silence. Kyo sighed and delved into his pocket, where upon he retreived his phone that was blasting out some ring tone for all it was worth. He answered it.

"Yeah...?" He began. His face immediatly became a frown. "Whatha..." His face was soon filled with fury. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET MY NUMBER, YANKEE?"

His bellow echoed throughout the house, disturbing the birds preening themselves in nearby trees and making the three surrounding him jump. "Yankee...?" Yuki repeated, raising an eyebrow as if he had never been told Akito had the raccoon. "Then that must mean..."

"Uo-chan...?" Tohru barely whispered.

Kyo nodded furiously and put the phone on loud speaker- Uo's voice immediatly filled the room.

"Oh, it's quite easy to find someone's number, orangey," She replied. She sounded viscious- they all sweatdropped. "All you do is look it up, moron!"

"Who're ya calling moron, bitch!" Kyo roared back.

"You!" Uo retorted. "Where's Tohru? We lost her when we went out, and we figured that she had gone home to you guys! But now you and the Prince are off school too, not to mention Tohru! So what's happened to her? Huh? HUH?"

"Stupid, look we...!"

"SHUT IT!" Was the response he got. "I'm coming over with Hanajima! WITH MY FUCKING MOTORCYCLE, VARIOUS KNIVES AND AN IRON PIPE!"

There was a click as she cut off the call and then a buzz of static.

There was another still pause.

"Oh crap," Both Kyo and Yuki said together. Tohru winced at the curse word- although it wasn't that bad, she still didn't like them, tame or otherwise.

Shigure, meanwhile, looked thoughtful and nibbled on a piece of skin on his finger.

"Isn't this where you make a joke about not worrying because they're high school girls, like a perv would?" Kyo looked up over at the dog his face twisted in a sneer.

"Well, yes, usually. But considering the seriousness of the situation, I beleive this is not the time." Shigure assured. A bright smile lit up his face. "Why don't we do this- Tohru caught a terrible cold and ran off from Arisa-chan and Saki-chan so they wouldn't catch it, and now Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun have it too, so are all on bed rest. And if they demand to see her, there is the leaf transformation at our disposal!" Shigure finished this little speech with a satisfied smirk as he folded his arms and leaned back, waiting for the brilliance of his plan to sink in.

"Shigure, no." Yuki said softly with a hint of pissed-off-ness in his voice. "Uotani-san is just the type to say something like, 'there's a leaf in your hair' and pick it out. And don't you think they would be a little suspicious if she just left and didn't bother telling them so...?"

"But..." Shigure faltered. He frowned and raised his eyes to the left, his mouth all puckered up at one side as he would have made Tohru laugh normally- but this wasn't normally.

"Well then..." Shigure began again. He sighed in frustration. "Let me speak to Arisa-chan!"

Before anyone could top him, the dog lunged for Kyo's phone and called Uo from call history.

Kyo stopped abuptly from snatching his mobile back when he heard the familiar 'boop boop' showing it was ringing.

Click.

"Whaddaya want? I'm busy right now," Uo's voice floated out of the phone. You could hear a rush of wind behind her and the honking of cars that signalled traffic.

"Hell-o Arisa-chan! It's SHIGURE-SENSEI~!" Shigure trilled into the mobile. Yuki and Kyo was a pause, where upon he put the phone on loud speaker.

"...HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET MY NUMBER YOU PERV?" She screamed from the other end. Shigure winced and held the mobile away from his ear.

"Now, now Arisa-chan! That's not nice calling some one a perv!" He replied, whimpering. Yuki and Kyo rolled their eyes. "I'm using

Kyon-Kyon's phone!" "Well see you in a bit then!" Uo replied hotly. "I'm on my way to your place now, in case you're wondering, to see Tohru." That explained the sound of cars.

"Well, you see, Arisa-chan, Tohru-kun has caught the most dreadful, dreadful cold- highly contagious. Yuki and Kyo are contaminated too, and I think I may be coming down with a case of it, too!" Shigure coughed dramatically, making Kyo and Yuki wish that Shigure hadn't been dropped on his head. The dog continued: "I doubt very, very much that they will come to school any time soon. Ah! You can hear Yuki-kun's searing splutters of agony!" Shigure held out Kyo's mobile to Yuki who obligingly said;

"Um... Cough...?"

"Yeah right!" Uo sneered. "I'm coming for Tohru right now! And Hanajima's just recharged!"

"I have just excersized my electro poison waves... They are at their strongest point now..." Hana's voice chimed in to the conversation.

"L-look, Arisa-chan, Saki-chan..."

"SEE YOU IN FIVE MINUTES!" Uo roared.

Click.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Well that was a waste of credit," Kyo mumbled, swinging his legs over the side of the couch and scuffing the carpet with his foot.

"Um... Uo-chan and Hana-chan can't see me like this, can they," Tohru said quietly.

"Unfortunnatly not, Honda-san." Yuki stood up from his seat and pattered over to Tohru. He patted her on the head gently. Tohru nuzzled his warm fingers with her nose.

"Shigure," Kyo addressed the older man. "What're we gonna do?"

There was a pause.

Shigure shrugged.

"DAMMIT SHIGURE...!"

Kyo dragged Shigure off into the hall by the neck of his kimono, with Shigure protesting and Tohru winced at the sound of Kyo beating the hell out of Shigure while he wailed dramactically-

"Y-YUUUKKKKIIII-KUNNNN! TOHHHRUUUU-KUNNN! KYO-KUN'S BE-BEING MEAN!"

Yuki sighed and turned to Tohru.

"Ignore them for a moment," He instructed quietly.

"Um...O-OK," Tohru agreed, glancing in the direction of the hall where Shigure was now squealing like a girl and Kyo roaring all the more.

"Right. I think I know what we'll do. We'll go out. Me, you and Kyo." Yuki said, his lip curling a little when he added 'Kyo'.

"O-out?" Tohru repeated. "Where? But S-Shigure-san will be-"

"Shigure can deal with anything. He's just..." Yuki looked up at the door where he could hear Shigure screeching-

"Ooo, Kyon-Kyon! You naughty boy!"

"SHUT UP DAMMIT!"

"OOOOOWWCH!"

"...having one of his less mature moments." Yuki finished, sweatdropping. "Anyway,"

"But... You can't be seen with me as a raccoon...! What if-" Tohru protested.

"Listen," Yuki said quietly. He glanced at the door before beginning to talk in a hushed tone. "When I was in first, second grade, I spent alot of time learning about our zodiac curse. I was often told stories and legends of the zodiac, when I wasn't with Akito. That when I was told about the raccoon curse. And about transformations, too."

"Transformations?" Tohru echoed. Yuki nodded.

"About things like the leaf transformation. It turn out, a raccoon or fox can transform into anything if they set their mind to it. Not just one human form- but different human forms."

Tohru gave a delighted gasp.

"So that means-"

"We can get you out in disguise!" Yuki murmured. "I'll go tell Kyo- you go outside and find a leaf. Something small, so we can hide it in your hair."

"OK!" Tohru agreed, before scrabbling down the side of the sofa and galloping out into the garden. Since Yuki always kept the garden neat, there were only a few dry leaves scudding along the grass. Tohru decided these wouldn't have the desired effect. There was a rosebush hanging over Yuki's vegetable garden which he was proud of- delicate, white roses bloomed out of season like snowflakes. It had tiny delicate leaves...Perfect. She bit off a small branch near the bottom, retching at the horrible earthy taste now in her mouth. She winced when she saw splintered wood she had left behind. Yuki wouldn't mind. This was for a worthy cause.

She sprinted back to the door where she was greeted by the rat and cat.

"Mnere Nyuki-nyun," Tohru gabbled through the branch. Yuki's face broke out into a soft smile as he gently took the branch- or rather twig- of leaves from her and sat down on the nearest sofa. Tohru scrambled up on to the arm beside him.

Kyo watched sullenly from the other couch. He rubbed a small graze on his knuckles where Shigure's glasses had cracked under his fist and cut him, not quite looking at what he was doing but fixing his gaze on his arch nemisis and the small raccoon that was once Tohru. They got along so well together. Not for the first time, he wished he could be liked by Tohru just as much. That damn rat got all the attention...

_I'll find a way to free Tohru. Even if it kills me. I swear, I will..._

"So... Um..." Kyo broke away from his thoughts when Tohru spoke. "Who should I exactly change into?"

"I think it would be better if you changed into someone who didn't exsist," Yuki said gently. "Just imagine someone random... Say... A boy with brown hair coming to about here-" He indicated an inch or so shorter on his own hair "-with a heavy brow and set jawline."

"A boy...?" Kyo raised an eyebrow, keeping the other in a frown. "With a heavy brow and set jawline? What are you trying to make her into a GORILLA or something?"

Yuki pursed his lips in a very feminine fashion his soft grey eyes becoming icy.

"Fine," He purred with a hint of danger in his voice. "YOU think of something better,"

"Uh... Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun..." Tohru attempted to intervene, trying her

best to smile. She waved a paw at them as if to signal them down.

"Wuh...? Hey, damn rat! I just pointed out the friggin' obvious! Who wants to be seen out with a friggin' GORILLA? JUST KEEP HER FEMALE!" Kyo bellowed back, ignoring Tohru. Yuki sighed inwardly and turned back to the raccoon.

"What do YOU think, Honda-san?" He asked, head on one side. "Male or female?"

"Well... I WOULD prefer to be female, but..."

There was another beep eminating from Kyo's pocket.

"SHIT!" Everyone jumped at Kyo's curse. "I just got a fucking text off that Yankee...! She's at the crossing already! She'll be here in less than two minutes...! Especially the way she drives on her stupid motorcycle... We're screwed...!"

"Oh great," Yuki moaned. "Quick, what's it going to be? We need to look natural..."

"Ohhh, Yu-ki-kun...!" Yuki froze at Shigure's sing song voice. Whatever was about to happen couldn't be good...

Shigure waltzed into the room, his eyes closed as he hummed excitedly. He had a large blue bruise on his forehead where Kyo had hit him earlier on, where he had placed two plasters in a cross to look comical. He was hiding something behind his back.

"Natural, did you say? Natural... Hm, hm, hmmm..." The dog continued to trill. "Then I think... TA-DA~!"

Yuki's heart skipped a beat when he saw what Shigure produced from behind his back with a flourish. And it wasn't skipping in a good way. A purple top with a crimson sequin design, a light clay-brown thin knitted cardigan and a pair of girl's skinny flare jeans with black ballet flats were placed in his arms.

"No," Was the immediate response. "I'm not dressing up as a girl. Why on earth anyway...?"

"Ahh, my true novelist shines through!" Shigure said dramactically throwing a hand to his forehead. "This is my plan! Tohru-kun transforms into a small child of about eight or nine, Yuki-kun dresses up as her mummy and Kyo-kun can be her daddy! Don't praise me, don't praise me...!"

Yuki: Sweatdrop. Facepalm.

Kyo: Sweatdrop. Facepalm.

Tohru: Pause. Sweatdrop.

"No," Kyo and Yuki said together. "No way in hell are we pretending to be married!"

"B-but I have little wedding rings and everything..." Shigure whined, showing them two wedding bands which he miraculasly produced from his pocket. One was noteably thicker than the other.

There was a beep from Kyo's phone.

"What now..." He groaned, flipping it open and reading the text. "Oh great. Just FRIGGIN' GREAT!"

"What, what? Kyo-kun?" Shigure said, baffled.

"Yankee and the wave girl are on their way up the path NOW! They said thirty seconds!"

"RIGHT!" Shigure barked (kind of appropriate, don't you think?) "I shall go delay those two. Yuki-kun, get dressed, Tohru-kun, transform, Kyo-kun, find a shirt and jeans, and get those wedding bands on! Then get out of here!"

As soon as he finished, he was gone.

Silence.

"Um... I think we should go with Shigure-san's plan," Tohru added nervously.

"Oh great..." Yuki said softly. "Cross dessing again. Thanks,"

"Y-Yuki-kun, I-I didn't mean to...!"

"No, it's not you, Honda-san, it's just that stupid dog. Leaping at the chance to make me look like a girl..."

Kyo, at that moment in time was grinning slyly, like he did when Yuki was in drag at the culture fest. How he loved to see Yuki squirm...

"LET US SEE TOHRU!" There was a scream from outside, presumably issuing from a wound up Arisa.

"Just give her a minute, she hasn't WOKEN UP YET!" Shigure replied, rather loudly to indicate the people indoors should get a move on.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it." Yuki sighed, before grabbing the feminine clothes that Shigure had left and dashing into the hall to change. Kyo snarled something under his breath before slinking upstairs to find something father-y.

That left Tohru to transform alone.

Taking a deep breath, using her teeth again, she plucked off a single leaf from the branch she had brought in. She placed it on the arm of the chair infront of her and, using her nose, mangaed to get it up her long snout and onto her forehead. Only now did she realise how useful hands and fingers were...!

She closed her eyes and thought over and over again, _Eight year old girl, eight year old girl, eight year old girl..._

She repeated those three word in her head untill they felt like they were echoing in the dark passages of her mind.

Slowly, she eased her eyes open.

Nothing happened.

But then the smoke flew out of nowhere again, only this time a pale pink. Tohru breathed a sigh of releif as her fur fell off to reveal very white, pale skin, definitely not her own. She could feel hair swishing past her ears and her tail disappear as it shrank into her spine. She closed her eyes as she felt her muscles contracting, her bones becoming sturdier and more bulky.

The smoke cleared.

Tohru looked down at herself, and her eyes widened in delight.

She had no breasts, no curves, she was flat everywhere except for the natural pudgyness every child has untill they reach about twelve.

But again, she was naked.

Blushing, even though she was by herself, she pattered round the sofa with size 13 feet and picked up her white dress from before. It was too big for her now, obviously, but made a cute pinafore on her shrunken form. It brushed her calves and floated around her empty chest space.

_I wonder what my face looks like...?_

There was a full length mirror near the door which Shigure insisted on having, goodness knows why. Tohru ran over to it to inspect her face. A round faced, blonde haired little girl stared back at her with dull brown eyes. Her hair was quite long, it brushed the top of her spine, and had brown steaks in the roots. She had a birth mark under her ear.

She was no beauty. Just an average little girl of eight... Nothing special.

"DAMMIT SOHMA! LET US PAST!" Uo's voice rose once again. "HANJIMA, SHOCK HIM!"

There was a fizzle of some sort and Shigure made a girl-like squeal.

"The pain, the pain! It's unbearable...!" He shrieked, obviously enjoying himself.

"DAMMIT!" Uo roared again.

"Honda-san, I'm done. Are you?" Yuki's voice came from behind the door.

"Yes, Yuki-kun," Tohru replied, surprised at her slightly higher pitched voice. She touched her throat as the door opened to reveal Yuki. He seemed to tower over her.

Yuki looked surprised at Tohru's appearence. Torhu felt herself blush madly and feel more than a little self concious.

But then she looked at Yuki properly.

And supressed a laugh.

He had all of the clothes that Shigure had brought with him on, and had even managed to crimp his hair a little. There was lip gloss over his lips and mascara on his eyelashes. But funniest of all, just to add that feminine flavour, he had stuffed a bra with tissue and was wearing it...!

A Yuki-ko now stood before her. (Even though Yuki is a girl's name, too)

"Well? How do I look?" He asked, trying his best to grin.

"Um... Very feminine...?" Tohru said, hoping that it was the right answer. To her releif, the rat breathed out a sigh.

"Well, at least I look convincing." He said, strutting infront of the mirror, putting his hands on his hips and pouting moodily. "What do you think I should call myself? Just Yuki?"

"Um... I think that might make Uo-chan a little suspicious," Tohru said reverently. "Maybe... Um... How about Hinamori?"

"Sure,Hinamori it is." Yuki gave a wry smile and looked Tohru up and down. He chuckled softly. "You look like Kisa,"

"I-I do?" Tohru repeated doubtfully. Kisa? Really? In her opinion, she looked very different... "So... Should I be called Kisa?"

"Nah. How about... Something cutesy?"

"Mai?" Tohru suggested.

"Great. I wonder where that stupid cat's go to...?"

"Right behind you, damn rat," Kyo said gruffly. "Get out of the way, you're blocking the door."

"Whatever," Yuki said, stepping away and raising his eyes at Kyo. He was wearing a rugby shirt from God-knows-where with dark blue jeans. That was it. He was clutching the wedding bands in his fist.

"Well? What're you staring at, damn rat-ko?" He snarled at his 'wife'.

"Don't you think Uotani-san- or anyone for that matter recognise you with your orange hair?" Yuki retorted, totally composed.

"Well whaddya suggest I do about it?" Kyo spat back.

"Something." Yuki replied, turning away from his enraged 'spouse'.

"And what the hell do you mean by that...?" The cat was furious now. You could see the hair standing up on the back of his neck.

"..." Yuki gave a sly grin. "This...!" He said, grabbing Kyo in a headlock and dragging him to the kitchen. It was quite an amusing scene- if Tohru hadn't known any better, she would have looked at Yuki and thought he was a girl. It was a funny sight to see petite feminine Yuki crushing Kyo's head with her- I mean, his arm.

"Damn rat what the hell are you...?"

"Keep still,"

"HEY! THAT'S COAL! KEEP THAT AWAY FROM MY HEAD!"

"Shut up, stupid cat,"

Tohru winced a little when she heard some plates smash and Kyo struggle.

"Coal?" She whispered to herself. "What could Yuki-kun be doing to Kyo-kun that involves coal?" She thought for a while before being interuppted by the door flying open.

Tohru blinked. A black haired man stood in front of her. Yuki appeared behind him, looking very smug.

"Damn rat..." The man growled.

"Kyo-kun?" Tohru suddenly realised what had happened. Very quickly, Yuki had rubbed a stick of coal through Kyo's hair, turning it a professional smooth black. Surprisingly it hadn't left any smudges, and you couldn't see a lock of orange anywhere. Kyo looked completely different in his jeans and rugby shirt. Now Yuki quickly slipped on his wedding band, and, grudgingly, Kyo did the same with his. Tohru smoothed her dress out a little before catching Kyo staring at her. Quickly he looked away, his cheeks colouring.

"Right," Yuki said, cracking his knuckles. It looked quite funny in his feminine outfit. "For now I'm Hinamori. Tohru is Mai. Kyo can be... Katsumi. Despite the fact he's exactly the oposite,"** [Katsumi means 'self controlled]**

"Why you... Damn rat!" Kyo roared.

Suddenly there was a crash as the front door was bashed aside.

"It's Uo-chan!" Tohru muttered in half-dismay and half-anticipation.

"Crap!" Kyo hissed through his teeth.

"Sit on the sofa!" Yuki whispered, pushing Kyo down. "Tohru- I mean, Mai, sit on the floor. Quick!"

Tohru abruptly collapsed onto the floor and crossed her legs, trying

her best to look winsome.

Yuki took a deep breath and then sat on the sofa next to Kyo. You could see the two's pained expressions as they fought against the urge to kill one another.

The living room paper door was suddenly wrenched back from it's current closed state. Tohru jumped violently as a blonde haired teenage girl stalked in. Her hair was tousled into a fair mess and her face was dark and grim. There was a deteirmed scowl on her face.

Uo...!

Behind her, Hanajima walked in briskly, her dark curls seeming to fly up with electricity by themselves. Her pale face was composed but if you looked at her properly you could see that her eyes were those of a hunter- dark with gleams of malice and determination.

Uo's gaze swept the room before falling on the small 'family' on the sofa.

"Who the hell are you?" She spat.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello! Hoehomi-Chan is updating again! Thanks for all the lovely comments- Alwar-Twa, thanks so much for saying that this is the best furuba fanfic ever! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Heh heh, everyone seems to like Yuki dressing in drag... Heh heh heh... I like Kyo with black hair. :) Oh, yeah, some people want me to make this a Yukiru fic, and others want a Kyoru... Could you please tell me which you want? At the end of a review? Please? By the way, for those who are saying 'Foxes shapeshifting? Shippo! Inuyasha!" it's actaully not just Shippo, y'know! -_-" It's actaully Japanese folklore that was INCLUDED in Inuyasha, not FROM it, 'K?**

**Anyway, enjoy~**

**Chapter 19**

"Who the hell are you?" Uo demanded. She was dressed in Kyoko's suicide squad coat and clutching her iron pipe.

Everyone simply sat there, at a loss for words. Tohru felt an outbreak of goosebumps on her arms and trembled with nerves. She had forgotten to hide the leaf under her hair! It was completely visible!

Hanajima narrowed her eyes into a glare.

"I can sense Tohru-kun's waves," She murmured. "Somewhere very, very close..."

"Ah! I see you've met my sister!" Shigure's voice came drifting through the hall. He entered the room, his kimono slightly crumpled and torn at the hem, and his dark hair stuck up in tufts. To be honest, he looked like he was electrocuted.

"Sister?" Uo spat. She seemed suitably distracted from Tohru for a moment.

"Yes! My sister, Hinamori!" Shigure must've heard their discussion from outside. He bounced over to Yuki and threw his arms around her- I mean, his neck. Yuki stiffened in horror before screwing up his eyes, taking a deep breath, and forcing a smile on his lips.

"Yes. I'm Hinamori... Hinamori Sohma," He said, spreading his lip-glossed lips in a thin smile. "This is my... husband," He almost hissed the last part. "Katsumi Sohma. And my daughter... Mai."

"They're here for a visit- it's little Mai's birthday!" Shigure insisted, this time moving to put a hand on Tohru's shoulder. Tohru gulped softly before clapping her hands together a little.

"Yay!" She tried to say brightly. Her tone came out flat and listless, wringed with nerves. Uo and Hanajima didn't look fooled.

"Hanajima," Uo addressed her friend sharply. "How close were Tohru's waves?"

"Very..." Hanajima replied quietly, her lips barely moving as she spoke. "Very... Very close..." She closed her eyes half way and let out a very soft groan, hardly making any sound.

Kyo, meanwhile, was sitting sullenly in the corner of the sofa, a sour look on his face. He wasn't making any attempt to act this through, and just sat there, completely still.

Hanajima's eyes came back into focus as she whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at Tohru. Tohru's heart missed a couple of beats as her insides knotted tightly in fear.

"Her," Hanajima said plainly. "She is quite unmistakably giving off Tohru's waves."

Uo shot the dark haired girl a dangerous look. "What?"

"I said, she is quite unmistakably giving off Tohru-kun's waves." she shook her head a little as she lowered her finger. "There's no denying it."

Tohru couldn't help it. Her mouth dropped open and almost failed to comply when she snapped it shut again. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Astronomically bad.

Yuki's eyes had widened in shock and you could see his clenched jaw tremble with nerves. Even Kyo's initial surly attitude wore off as he stared at Saki with what only could be described as a mask of panic on his face. Shigure was under pressure too. He clenched his fists tightly and gnawed at the corner of his lip. Tohru's heart was going a million miles an hour. She thought her chest would explode trying to contain its rapid pulsing. The Sohmas in the room looked as if they shared the current mindset.

Uo twisted her lips in a sneer. "How's that possible?" she demanded. "That's a kid. How could Tohru be that munchkin?"

Shigure let out a nervous laugh, startling Kyo, Yuki and Tohru.

"Now, now, Arisa-chan, Saki-chan, what're you talking about?" he asked, gesturing with a simple shrug. "Like I said, this is my neice, Mai."

"Hanajima!" Uo, choosing to ignore Shigure, barked. "Explain!"

"I won't say I'm right." Hana said almost coldly. "But I have not ever been wrong. And I know Tohru-kun's waves well enough to know that these I sense-" she gestured into the air "-are Tohru-kun's and Tohru-kun's only,"

"So," Uo nodded grimly, cracking her knuckles. "Better get some answers ready, Sohma. Explain. Now."

Shigure, for once, was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth: about to speak, but couldn't think of what to say, leaving him with his jaw dangling open.

Hanajima glanced at the three on the couch, then at Shigure, then finally at Uo. She nodded icily.

"Right." Uo began curtly. "We'll do whatever it takes to find Tohru- and what you've done with her. We didn't swear on Kyoko-san's grave for nothing. Last chance. Five...four...three...two..."

Tohru inhaled sharply as Uo's lips rounded to begin 'one', when Yuki suddenly spoke up.

"Please, whoever you are," he said formally. "Stop. Please stop. You're frightening my daughter."

One sideways glance from Yuki confirmed the fact that he was buying them some time.

Hanajima eyed the cross-dressed Yuki coolly. "It's your daughter that would have to the most frightened. She's the one the waves are coming from."

"All right!" Uo suddenly yelled. Her arm whipped out and she deftly pulled Tohru away from her 'parents'. "Answers! Now! Else the munchkin gets it!"

Tohru let out a short squeal and fought against the arms that grasped her tightly. These were the arms of her friend; the arms of one of the people who understood her most, yet they felt like the arms of a stranger.

"HONDA-SA-" Yuki began, leaping to his feet. Suddenly all eyes were on him as what he said sank in. As soon as he cottoned on, he clapped his hands to his mouth as Kyo bounced upwards.

"Oh, congratulations you damn rat!" He hollered.

"Honda?" Uo exclaimed. "As in Tohru? What the hell are you doing?"

"Get out!" Shigure barked. Yuki, Kyo and Tohru all regarded him strangely as he frantically pointed to the door. "Out! Kyo, Yuki! Get away from here!"

"WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT?" Uo demanded. "SOMEONE TELL ME BEFORE I KILL THIS KID!"

"There's no escaping." Hanajima added softly, her tone edged with daggers. She raised her hand towards the 'married' couple. There was a crack of some sort and a white bolt suddenly surrounded both Kyo and Yuki. The pair both roared at the searing pain burning across their skin, penetrating their insides. There was a terrifying thumping in their skulls as the electricity and waves that Saki wielded at her will coursed through their bodies. They were momentarily lifted from the ground as the eletric shock first entered them, before falling to the floor with a thump. They were still, save the few twitches that indicated they were in pain.

"Yuki-kun...!" Tohru screamed as tears pooled in her eyes. "Kyo...Kyo-kun!"

Uo shot her a look. "Just who are you?" She sneered.

As Tohru stared up into her friend's piercing, steely grey eyes, with her frightened, watery brown ones. The cold and the darkness that was running through Uo's veins right now was terrifying. She was violent; not afraid to hurt or kill...

...all for the sake of Tohru.

The young girl shuddered in horror. Suddenly she felt as if she didn't know these people at all. Like she had never met Saki Hanajima or Arisa Uotani. As if she knew completely different friends.

These two were brutal, demoniac offenders.

These two weren't Tohru's best-and only-friends.

With a cry, as Uo tightened her grip on Tohru, she sobbed a waterfall of tears. Hanajima was attempting to take down Shigure with a similar attack as the one that knocked out Kyo and Yuki, however he seemed to be working his way out of it. He hurled anything at Saki that he could; books, ornamants, things like that- and although Hanajima could easily dodge them, she seemd to be distracted enough not to shoot electricity at the dog.

Tohru wriggled in her captor's iron grip and begged.

"Please, let me go! Don't hurt my friends! Please!" she sobbed.

"Not untill we get what we want, kid," Uo hissed. She twisted Tohru around so she could hold the eight year old form's chin tightly. "Now, sweetie," she purred mockingly. The ice in her tone sent shivers up and down Tohru's spine at the falsely cheerful teenager in front of her. "I'm gonna ask you this once and once only. Who are you?"

"I...I..." Tohru hesitated. Uotani's face twisted into hatred as she hit Tohru across the face with a surprisingly strong back hand. Tohru's head snapped to one side, the pain of the slap suddenly sinking in. She gasped as the bruised flesh prickled and more tears ran down her cheeks.

"See, Sohma!" Uo yelled triumphantly. "That's what happens to your precious 'niece', 'sister' and 'brother in law' when you don't give what's wanted!"

Tohru trembled in terror. Uo had no way of knowing that she- a seemingly eight year old- was really Tohru, but she couldn't help but feel that Uo had betrayed her. The slap...the hurt...the hate... The raw skin on her cheek burned with the impact.

"Last chance!" Uo spat into Tohru's face. "Who are you?"

Tohru shook in pure fear. Uo was going to kill her. She would quite easily kill the person she had sworn to protect.

With one last desperate move, Tohru threw her head back so Uo was forced to let go. As she brought her head back down, her jaw clamped onto skin.

Skin!

She had bitten Uo.

Uo roared in pain as Tohru's jaw clamped down hard on her flesh and shook Tohru off.

Now free, Tohru glanced wildly around the room.

It was chaos.

Yuki and Kyo's bodies were slumped on the ground, the only indication that they were alive was their shallow breathing and twitching bodies. The glass of the window was smashed; and the fragments were shattered over the floor. Vases and various other ornamants lay, cracked on the floor, books were lying page-down, some torn or ripped, even. Shigure was managing to constantly dodge Hanajima's bullets of elctro-poison waves, but as a result, furniture was upturned, and there was a split in the sofa where stuffing was pouring out. The paper door had four large holes in it and three tears, as if some beast had raked its claws through the fragile matireal.

"You little bitch!" Uo screamed, making a grab for her iron pipe. Tohru shrieked in horror as it swung towards her, missing her by mere inches.

"Tohru-kun!" Shigure bellowed from across the room. "Get to the main house! Get Hatori!"

"How?" Tohru sobbed in reply, threads of water slipping down her face.

"The leaf!" the dog yelled in response, ducking out of the way as a bolt narrowly missed him. "The leaf!"

Tohru clenched her jaw. Yes. She had to. There was no other way.

With a deep breath, she snatched the leaf off of her head as Uo's pipe came towards her yet again.

Thank goodness the transformation happened when it did.

Tohru felt herself morph back into a raccoon as Uo shrieked, "What the-?"

She scampered away from further harm to hide under the sofa, where she had a clear path to the door leading outside.

Right next to Kyo and Yuki now, she nudged Yuki's hand with her nose. No response. She tried pawing at Kyo's cheek- the only reward she got was a soft groan. Soft, it may have been, but all the same, it was a pained one.

It pained Tohru as she fled out of the door and out into the underbush.

She didn't stop running as she got through the woods.

She didn't stop when she reached the edge of the Shigure's property.

She didn't stop even though tears were blinding her and her four tender paws were screaming after scraping against broken glass and twigs.

She only stopped when she saw that she was at the bottom of the hill, and the house was a fair distance away from her.

With a soft sigh, Tohru allowed one lone tear to slip down her broad face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Forgive me, Uo-chan, Hana-chan. Forgive me, Shigure-san. Forgive me, Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun."


End file.
